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
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.Find-A-Grave, Priscilla Elane Arone Serling
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.Geni, Robert Jerome Serling (1918–2010), managed by Jennifer Serling, May 24, 2018
Retrieved Sep. 4, 2019.Find-A-Grave, Carolyn Louise (Kramer) Serling
Retrieved Mar. 20, 2020.

Fiction

Non-fiction

Career

* Was a

, 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 ''

''. 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