Editing R. A. Lafferty (section)

==Biography==
{{Moresources|section|date=October 2022}}
Lafferty was born on November 7, 1914, in [[Neola, Iowa]]<ref name="NYTObit"/> to devoutly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] parents, Hugh David Lafferty, a broker dealing in oil leases and royalties, and Julia Mary ({{nee}} Burke), a teacher. He was born the youngest of five siblings. His first name, Raphael, derived from the day on which he was expected to be born (the Feast of [[Raphael (archangel)|St. Raphael]]). When he was 4, his family moved to [[Perry, Oklahoma]].<ref name="NYTObit"/>

He graduated from [[Cascia Hall Preparatory School|Cascia Hall]],<ref name="Mar 2002">"Sci-fi author R.A. Lafferty rites set", ''[[Tulsa World]]'', March 21, 2002. Accessed March 31, 2010.</ref> and came of age in the early years of the [[Great Depression]]. He later attended night school at the [[University of Tulsa]] for two years starting in 1933, mostly studying Math and German, but left before graduating. He then began to work for Clark Electric Co. in [[Tulsa]] and, during this period (1939–42), he attended the International Correspondence School. Per ''[[The New York Times]]'', "He taught himself [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] in order to read the [[New Testament]] in the original."<ref name="NYTObit"/>

He enlisted in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] in 1942. After training in [[Texas]], [[North Carolina]], [[Florida]], and [[California]], he was sent to the [[South Pacific Area]], serving in [[Australia]], [[New Guinea]], [[Morotai]] and the [[Philippines]]. When he left the Army in 1946, he had become a 1st Sergeant serving as a [[Staff Sergeant#United States military|staff sergeant]] and had received an [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]].<ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20041025093113/https://www-perscom.army.mil/tagd/tioh/Awards/ASIATIC-PACIFIC1.html Awards], perscom.army.mil. Accessed October 1, 2022.</ref> He never married and lived most of his life in Tulsa with his sister, Anna Lafferty.<ref name="NYTObit"/>

Lafferty did not begin writing until the 1950s, but he wrote thirty-two novels and more than two hundred short stories, most of them at least nominally science fiction. His first published story was "The Wagons" in the ''New Mexico Quarterly Review'' in 1959. His first published science fiction story was "Day of the Glacier", in ''The Original Science Fiction Stories'' in 1960, and his [[debut novel]] was [[Past Master (novel)|''Past Master'']] in 1968.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=Rafael A. Lafferty, 87, Science Fiction Writer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/29/us/rafael-a-lafferty-87-science-fiction-writer.html?scp=15 |date=March 29, 2002 |access-date=March 31, 2010}}</ref> He followed it with ''Space Chantey'' (1968), a science fiction retelling of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', and ''[[Fourth Mansions]]'' (1969), inspired by [[Teresa of Ávila]].<ref name=SF/>

Until 1971, Lafferty worked as an [[Electrical engineering|electrical engineer]]. After that, he spent his time writing until around 1980, when his output declined due to a stroke. He stopped writing regularly in 1984.<ref name="Locus"/> In 1994, he suffered an even more severe stroke. He died on March 18, 2002, aged 87 in a nursing home in [[Broken Arrow, Oklahoma]]. His collected papers, artifacts, and ephemera were donated to the University of Tulsa's McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Other manuscripts are housed in the [[University of Iowa]]'s Library special collections department.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lafferty, R.A (Raphael Aloysius) |url=https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/491886 |website=ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref>

Lafferty's funeral took place at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa, where he regularly attended daily Mass. He is buried at St. Rose Catholic Cemetery in Perry.<ref name="Mar 2002"/>