Raymond Z. Gallun

Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 – April 2, 1994) was an American science fiction writer.

Early life Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, the son of Adolph and Martha Zinke Gallun. He graduated from high school in 1928. He left college after one year and travelled in Europe, living a drifter's existence, working a multitude of jobs around the world in the years leading up to World War II. thumb

Death and posthumous work Gallun died of a heart attack at his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York, on April 2, 1994.

A posthumous autobiography, Starclimber, authored in part by Gallun and completed by Jeffrey M. Elliot, was published in September 2007. There is an extensive interview with Gallun about his life and career in Eric Leif Davin's Pioneers of Wonder.

In 2017, a mural honoring Gallun was painted in his hometown of Beaver Dam by an organization of sign and mural artists known as "Walldogs."