author
Best known for the eerie science fiction story Flight 18, this little-known American writer left behind a brief but memorable entry in 1950s pulp fiction. His work has the feel of a classic mystery in the sky, with everyday travel tipping suddenly into the uncanny.
Paul A. Torak was an American writer born on March 15, 1926, in Erie, Pennsylvania, and he died in June 1970. The biographical record appears to be quite sparse, but library and public-domain book sources agree that he is associated with science fiction, and genealogical records place his life in Pennsylvania.
He is best known for Flight 18, a science fiction short story first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in August 1953. Modern catalog and audiobook-style listings suggest that this may have been his only known published story under that name, which gives his work a rare, one-story curiosity for readers who enjoy overlooked pulp-era fiction.
That small footprint is part of the appeal. Torak stands as one of those almost-lost magazine-era authors whose surviving story still finds new readers, especially through digital reprints and audio adaptations.