Salvatore John Giovanni La Puma (February 21, 1929 – May 8, 2008) was an Italian American short story writer.
He was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. In 1951, he was drafted, and served in the Korea War as a medic. In 1959, he moved to Westchester, and worked as an advertising copy editor. In 1967, he moved to Santa Barbara, California. He married Linda Ferrara in 1955; they had six children; they divorced in 1977; he married Joan Dewberry in 1980; they divorced in 2000.
His work appeared in Antioch Review, Kenyon Review. and Zyzzyva. He died in Santa Barbara on May 8, 2008.