author
Frank Orndorff
1885–1971
An early American pulp writer, he is remembered for fast-moving adventure and science-fiction tales that appeared during the magazine era of the early 20th century. His surviving work includes stories such as The Terrors of the Upper Air and the novel Kongo, the Gorilla-Man.
1 Audiobook
The terrors of the upper air
by Frank Orndorff
About the author
Born in Delavan, Illinois, on October 22, 1885, Frank Milliken Orndorff was an American writer whose fiction is now mostly associated with early pulp adventure and science fiction. Bibliographic records and public-domain listings connect him with stories that mixed danger, mystery, and fantastic ideas in the lively style popular with magazine readers of his time.
His best-known surviving titles include The Terrors of the Upper Air, a high-altitude science-fiction story, and Kongo, the Gorilla-Man. While he is not as widely known today as some of his pulp-era contemporaries, his work still attracts readers interested in the history of popular fiction and the energetic imagination of early genre storytelling.
Orndorff died on April 10, 1971, in Peoria, Illinois. Much of what is easily confirmed about him today comes from bibliographic and archival sources, but even that small record suggests a writer who contributed to the adventurous, experimental spirit of early 20th-century magazine fiction.