Paul W. Fairman

Born Paul Warren Fairman in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 22, 1909, he built a wide-ranging career as both an author and an editor. Reliable reference sources describe him as active from around 1947, first publishing mystery fiction before becoming a familiar name in science fiction and other popular genres.

Fairman is closely tied to the magazine world of the 1950s. He was the founding editor of If in 1952, though only for its first few issues, and later edited Amazing Stories and Fantastic. Alongside editing, he wrote steadily under his own name and several pseudonyms, a common practice in pulp publishing.

His fiction career stretched across short stories, novels, and tie-in work, and his reputation today rests largely on his role in shaping mid-century genre magazines as much as on any single title. That mix of editorial influence and fast, versatile storytelling makes him an interesting figure for readers who enjoy the history of classic popular fiction.