Robert Anthony Inman was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 educator, journalist and author.

Inman was the son of Verne Inman, M.D., former chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UCSF. He was born in San Francisco and attended Grattan School and Lowell High, achieving the highest honors. As he grew up, he worked summers as manager of the Headen Park Farm, a Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...

 farm founded by his great-great grandfather, Benjamin F. Headen in 1852. The farm house is now the Inman-Headen Museum.

Inman graduated from Stanford with distinction (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1952, and was awarded back-to-back Fulbright Scholarships in German Literature in Graz, Austria. During this time he met Joan Marshall (Stanford, '53) at a New Year’s gathering of Stanford friends in Vienna. They were married in Denver in 1958. After 21 years of marriage the couple was amicably divorced but remained good friends.

Focused on writing all his life, Inman first authored a play which was performed by the Kaleidoskoptheater ensemble in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.

In the U.S. Army, he served as a linguist in Intelligence Headquarters (Northern Europe) in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, Germany. After his discharge, he completed a year of graduate studies at the Free University of Berlin

Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...

. He later taught in the Germanic Languages Department at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 in Seattle, and received his Masters degree there. He also worked as an editor in the U.W. President's Office.

In 1960, Inman and his family moved to Colorado, where he began his first novel and worked as an editor, reporter and librarian for the Denver Post. He later lived in San Francisco and New York City, where he was the editor of all six scientific journals for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, from 1983 to 1987.

His publications included two novels, The Torturer's Horse (1965) and The Blood Endures (1981). He received the O. Henry Award

O. Henry Award

The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....

 for a short story, "I'll Call You" (1981). Inman published other numerous short stories and articles, and was awaiting publication of a new novel, Delphi, when he died suddenly at the age of 75.

Inman was recognized in both Who's Who

Who's Who

Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...

in America and in the World. He was recognized by Men of Achievement in 1992.