Charles R. Tanner

Charles Roland Tanner (1896–1974) was an American clerk, salesman, poet, and author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he first appeared in print with “The Color of Space” in 1930, a contest-winning story published in Wonder Stories.

Tanner’s most enduring creation was Tumithak, a determined young hero living thousands of years after alien shelks from Venus had driven humanity underground. The series began with “Tumithak of the Corridors” in 1932 and continued through several stories, including a fourth installment published after Tanner’s death. Tanner also wrote strange tales, fantasies, and adventure stories for pulp magazines, remaining a devoted science-fiction fan throughout his life.

He stopped writing in 1952, but his Tumithak stories continued to attract readers and influenced early science-fiction fans, including Isaac Asimov and Philip José Farmer. A collection of all four Tumithak stories was published in 2005.