
author
1918–1996
A mid-20th-century American writer best known for science fiction and mystery short stories, he also published work in magazines and anthologies that reached a wide popular audience. His fiction often sat at the crossroads of suspense, speculation, and classic pulp-era storytelling.

by Raymond E. Banks
Born in Missouri on November 8, 1918, Raymond E. Banks was an American author whose work appeared during the great magazine era of popular fiction. He wrote across genre lines, with a strong presence in science fiction and mystery, and is remembered today through bibliographies and reader archives that track his short stories and anthology appearances.
Banks is associated with science-fiction venues and with stories later collected or reprinted in genre anthologies, including titles linked to classic mid-century speculative fiction. His name also appears in connection with mystery and suspense readers, showing the range of his publishing career.
He died on August 3, 1996. While he is not as widely known now as some of his contemporaries, his work remains part of the rich magazine and anthology tradition that helped shape twentieth-century popular fiction.