Robert K. Elder is an experienced tech and media executive, the award-winning author of 12 books and the Chief Digital Officer for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He also serves as a mentor at TechStars and 1871 in Chicago.
Pulitzer-winner Studs Terkel calls Elder “a journalist in the noblest tradition” in his introduction to Elder’s book, Last Words of the Executed.
Author Scott Turow (Presumed Innocent) called Elder’s previous book, Hidden Hemingway, “An invaluable book for anyone interested in Hemingway or the development of a major creative mind” and Garrison Keillor lauded the work, writing: “…it’s a privilege to look through [Hemingway’s] closet and read his stuff and discover him as a mortal man.”
Elder’s 2013 book, The Best Film You’ve Never Seen, was championed by film critic Roger Ebert, who wrote: “How necessary this book is! And how well-judged and written! Some of the best films ever made, as Elder proves, are lamentably all but unknown.”
Dead Man Walking author Sister Helen Prejean called Last Words of the Executed, “a dangerous book.” Last Words of the Executed received rave reviews in The Economist, Harper’s Magazine, and The New York Review of Books, among many other outlets. The New Yorker called it, “…A harrowing portrait of our justice system.”
Praise for Elder’s 2011 book The Film That Changed My Life came from the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips, who called the book, “A great and provocative read…it’s addictive.” Film critic Leonard Maltin also said, “You’ll have a hard time putting this book down.”
Elder’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, MSNBC.com, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Salon.com, The Oregonian and many other publications. He has also contributed to books on poker, comic books and film design.
He serves on the boards of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Headline Club and the Chicago Writers Conference. Elder is a member of the Hemingway Society, the Melville Society and the American Historical Association.
He has taught journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School and Columbia College Chicago.
A Montana native and graduate of the University of Oregon, Elder lives and writes in Chicagoland.
He has been known to carry a digital voice recorder.
Moby-Dick: Illustrated by Gilbert Wilson can be ordered on the
Hat & Beard Press website, here.