Charles L. Fontenay

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1917 and raised in Tennessee, Charles L. Fontenay became known as both a journalist and a science-fiction writer. Sources consistently describe him as a veteran newspaperman, and his career included work with the Associated Press and The Tennessean before he retired and continued writing fiction in Florida.

His science fiction began appearing in the 1950s, with early stories such as Disqualified and novels including Twice Upon a Time, Rebels of the Red Planet, and The Day the Oceans Overflowed. Reference sources also note his later return to the field through the Kipton books, a run of adventure stories for younger readers, along with later works such as Target: Grant, 1862 and Modál.

He also wrote nonfiction, including Estes Kefauver: A Biography. Fontenay died on January 27, 2007, in Memphis, Tennessee, leaving behind a body of work that links mid-century magazine science fiction with a productive late-career revival.