Raymond Leslie Goldman (1895âÂÂ1950) was an American author of short stories and detective novels. He almost always signed his works R. L. Goldman.
Goldman had polio as a child, he wrote about in his memoirs The Good Fight (1935) and Victory Over Pain (1947). As a result of the disease, he had atrophied muscles in his legs. He became deaf when he was 19 years old. He also had diabetes and followed a limited diet.
Goldman served in World War I, after which he held several jobs in radio and with pulp magazines.
In 1917, he published his first short story in Collier's Weekly. He later settled in Nashville, Tennessee. He regularly contributed short stories, often humorous, to The Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. In 1922, he wrote Bing Bang Boom!, an atory in the same vein that was adapted into a silent film. Other works of Goldman's adapted into films included Battling Bunyan (1924), from a short story in the Saturday Evening Post, and That Red-Headed Hussy (1929).
In 1929 with The Hartwell Case, Goldman gradually transitioned from short stories to detective fiction, notably a six-title series whose protagonists were newspaper editor Asaph Clume and fiery, red-headed reporter Rufus Reed. Rufus often narrated their investigations, which took place in a fictional small town in the American Midwest.
Goldman died in 1950. His books remain sought after by collectors.
His nephews Louis L. Goldman and Ben F. Goldman Jr. and great-grandnephew Jeffrey D. Goldman were noted entertainment attorneys.