Discover the Best Books Written by Robert Coram
Robert Coram was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his work as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is the author of seven novels and four nonfiction books, including American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day and Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. He lives in Atlanta.
Robert Coram’s career as a writer began in Edison, GA, a town of about 1200 located deep in the southwestern part of the state. Edison is a farming town. Most young people leave as soon as possible and take up a variety of careers. Coram is the only person from Edison ever to become a professional writer.
Coram was hired as a reporter for The Atlanta Journal when he was a sophomore in college. Like many who suddenly discovered their life’s work, he was enthusiastic and prolific. He was a general assignment reporter but also wrote features, book reviews, travel stories, and aviation stories. He covered the civil rights movement in Atlanta during the 1960s, and he wrote freelance magazine articles, first for the then-new Atlanta Magazine, then for aviation publications, then for national magazines.
He led a movement to unionize the reporting staff of the paper, and for that, he was fired. He said that was the most painful moment of his life, first because he had been fired from what he considered the best job in the world and second because the newspaper said the real reason he was fired was that he tricked a prominent politician into telling the truth about a controversial news issue. It is better to be fired from a job when young than when old, as it toughens one up.