Salvatore John Giovanni La Puma (February 21, 1929 – May 8, 2008) was an Italian Americanshort story writer.

He was born and raised inBensonhurst, Brooklyn. In 1951, he was drafted, and served in theKorea War as a medic. In 1959, he moved toWestchester, and worked as an advertising copy editor. In 1967, he moved toSanta Barbara, California.^[1][2][3]He married Linda Ferrara in 1955; they had six children; they divorced in 1977; he married Joan Dewberry in 1980; they divorced in 2000.^[4][5]

His work appeared inAntioch Review,Kenyon Review.^[6] andZyzzyva.^[7] He died inSanta Barbara on May 8, 2008.

• 1987Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
• 1988O. Henry Award finalist^[8]
• 1988American Book Award

• The boys of Bensonhurst: stories. University of Georgia Press. 1987.ISBN 978-0-8203-0891-3.
• A Time for Wedding Cake Norton. Random House. 1991.ISBN 978-0-517-12513-7.
• Teaching Angels to Fly. W W Norton & Co Inc. June 1992.ISBN 978-0-393-03358-8.

• Carol Bonomo Albright;Joanna Clapps Herman, eds. (2008). "A Marvelous Feat in a Common Place".Wild Dreams: The Best of Italian Americana. Fordham University Press. p. 251.ISBN 978-0-8232-2910-9.
• Charles East, ed. (1993). "Mouthpiece".The Flannery O'Connor Award: Selected Stories. University of Georgia Press. p. 124.ISBN 978-0-8203-1524-9.
• Regina Barreca, ed. (2002).Don't tell mama!: the Penguin book of Italian American writing. Penguin Books.ISBN 978-0-14-200247-6.

• 20th-century American short story writers
• American military personnel of the Korean War
• American writers of Italian descent
• People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
• 1929 births
• 2008 deaths
• American Book Award winners

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