Robert P Rickman

About the Author

Robert P. Rickman

In 1999 I spent a month in Great Britain with the intention of returning with some big idea about what to do next with my life.

When I returned from the big trip, I had my answer. I would write a novel, but I didn’t know what to write about.

I sensed that this project would take years to complete, and I would need something to write about that would sustain my interest. And since I thoroughly enjoyed attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1970-1974, I felt that a novel about my alma mater would do the trick.

By 2001, I had decided that the book would be based on my experiences as a Radio and TV major at SIU.

When I started writing in 2003, I had some idea of the beginning and the end…but had no idea what would be in the middle of the book.

By 2008, I had a hodgepodge of stories written, but they were not tied together in any coherent fashion. So I needed an editor. That year, on one of my numerous visits to SIU, I found myself wandering around in the Faner Building and stumbled into the Writing Center. There I met Nathan Beck–an instructor–who looked as if he was in the middle of triage. Within ten minutes Nathan, MFA ’07, was my editor.

During the next three years we collaborated on a 220-page novel about a burned-out 58-year-old former broadcaster who is catapulted back to his sophomore year at SIU during the spring of 1971. Peter Federson has a chance to start his life all over again, marry that special girl, avoid marrying the wrong girl, and stay in college rather than flunk out and tour Vietnam like he did the first time around.

While attending Southern, I worked at WSIU Radio and TV and WIDB Radio. During the past 40 years, I’ve filled positions as a news director, executive producer, editor, reporter and anchorman at radio and TV stations in Illinois, Iowa, California, Arizona and Tennessee–mostly in news departments. I am now an anchor and producer at a news/talk station in Tennessee.

I also own a small non-broadcasting-related business. Purchase Saluki Marooned