READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 1 Issue 5 November 2013 | Page 6

Robert Stanek

up close & personal
When I first “cyber-met” Robert Stanek I was struck by not only his own
accomplishments, but by his dedication to other authors. When I began
preparation for this interview I did a bit more digging and found that while
different, we share a similar background in versatility. Robert is not only a
notable author having published over 150 books, but the diversity of his
resume is remarkable.
Robert could you share with us a little about the little boy who grew
up to be the author we know and love today? What did you enjoy
doing as a child and how do you think those experiences have
influenced your career?

Robert: Remember that kid at
your school with the bowl
haircut, wearing ragged shirts
two sizes too small or too big,
patched pants that were high
waters or had rolled up cuffs,
and shoes that were taped
together or mismatched? Well,
that was me.
I grew up in Racine, a city in
southern Wisconsin about
midway between Chicago and
Milwaukee. I’m one of five
children raised by a single
mom. Poverty wasn’t just a
word in my world as a child; it
was a daily reality that my
mom, my sisters, and I lived.
Poverty and all the dark things
that go with it never broke us. If
anything, it only made us
stronger.
School was a place I raced to
eagerly every weekday. I loved
school not only because it was
sometimes the only place I got
to eat, but because I loved
learning. Outside of school, I
spent a lot of time at the library.
The library is where I
discovered The Three
Musketeers, Robinson Crusoe,

Treasure Island, Twenty
Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea, The
Call of the Wild, and
more. The writers of
those books--Jules
Verne, Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Ray
Bradbury, Herman
Melville, Jack London,
Charles Dickens, and
Edgar Allan Poe-became some of my
greatest influences and
their stories helped me
survive the world
around me.
What do you consider
your big break in
publishing?
First big break? Wow, my first
break of any kind in writing was
a long time in the making-longer even than most people
can imagine. I finished my first
full-length novel in 1986. At the
time, I was stationed in Japan
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