Robert Jerome Serling (born Jerome Robert Serling;
March 28, 1918 – May 6, 2010) was an American novelist and aviation writer.
Biography
Born in
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556.
The city of Cortland, near the county's western bo ...
and raised in
Binghamton
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, Serling graduated from
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...
in 1942. He "deplored the name Jerome" and swapped his first and middle names as a young man.
He was the older brother of screenwriter and ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
'' creator
Rod Serling.
Serling became full-time aviation editor for
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...
in 1960. He wrote at least eight novels and sixteen books of nonfiction. His novel ''
The President's Plane Is Missing'' was made into a 1973 made-for-TV film starring
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...
. He received the 1988 Lauren D. Lyman Award "for distinguished achievement in the field of aviation and aerospace journalism."
He had two children with his second wife, Priscilla Arone.
Serling died of pancreatic cancer on May 6, 2010, at age 92 in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
. He is buried beside his second wife, Priscilla Arone Serling, brother Rod Serling, and sister-in-law Carol Serling at Lake View Cemetery in
Interlaken, New York
Interlaken is a village in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 602 at the 2010 census. The name is related to the village's position between two lakes.
The Village of Interlaken is in the northern part of the Town of Cov ...
.
[Find-A-Grave, Robert Jerome Serling](_blank)
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.[Find-A-Grave, Priscilla Elane Arone Serling](_blank)
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.[Geni, Robert Jerome Serling (1918–2010), managed by Jennifer Serling, May 24, 2018](_blank)
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.[Find-A-Grave, Carolyn Louise (Kramer) Serling](_blank)
Retrieved Mar. 20, 2020.
Fiction
Non-fiction
Career
* Was a
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...
, Washington, DC, reporter and manager of Radio News Division, 1945–60, aviation editor, 1960–66; air safety lecturer and consultant, beginning 1966.
* Received numerous honors of his work throughout his career: Trans-World Airlines, seven awards, 1958–65, for aviation news reporting, Strebig-Dobben Memorial Award, 1960; special citations from Sherman Fairchild Foundation, 1963, Flight Safety Foundation, 1970, and Airline Pilots Association, 1970; Aviation/Space Writers Association, James Trebig Memorial Award, 1964, special citation, 1967, award in fiction, 1966, for ''The Left Seat'', and in nonfiction, 1969, for ''Loud and Clear''.
* Collected commercial airline models (more than four hundred during his life) and material on aviation research.
* Member of the Society of Air Safety Investigators and the Aviation/Space Writers Association
* Brother
Rod Serling hired him as a technical consultant (for which he received on-screen credit) for the airplane sequences in the episode "
The Odyssey of Flight 33
"The Odyssey of Flight 33" is episode 54 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone'', the 18th episode of the second season. An unlikely break of the time barrier finds a commercial airliner sent back into the prehistoric age ...
" of his hit TV-show ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
''. Robert Serling also received advisor or researcher credits on two other Rod Serling scripts: one each for scripts penned for ''
Studio One'' and ''
Playhouse 90''.
* ''Something's Alive on the Titanic'' and ''The President's Plane Is Missing'' are fantasy novels set in real life high-profile backdrops.
* Was a reporter for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. Travelled with the team and roomed with quarterback
Eddie LeBaron
Edward Wayne LeBaron Jr. (January 7, 1930 – April 1, 2015) was a Korean War veteran and an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the Col ...
.
* Authored the short story "Ghost Writer" published in ''
Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary''.
* In 2008, was featured speaker at the 32nd annual Airliners International collectibles show and convention in Dallas, Texas.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serling, Robert
1918 births
2010 deaths
People from Cortland, New York
Antioch College alumni
American historians
Aviation historians
Aviation writers
American aviation writers
American aviation historians
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
Jewish American novelists
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from New York (state)
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American Jews