Robert Skimin (July 30, 1929 in

Belden, Ohio Belden is an unincorporated community in Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. History Belden was originally called Rawsonville. A post office called Rawsonville was established in 1852, the name was changed to Belden in 18 ...

– May 9, 2011 in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

) was a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer, artist, and

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-nominated and award-winning author of both fiction and historical books.

Military career

Born in a small village in rural

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, Skimin became an army aviator during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He was awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.Author Detail , Ohio Center for the Book @ Cleveland Public Library
/ref>

Author

Skimin has written a number of books of both factual and

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

lists 14 titles to date. He has received several awards, including induction into the El Paso Writers Hall of Fame, and received the Ohiana Book Award in 1984 for ''Chikara''. In 1993, he earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for ''Apache Autumn'' with most other titles being best sellers. His last work was a book series called ''Danny Drumm's Heroes'': Author speaks of series on YouTube. *Volume 1: ''Johnny Clem'' - This book introduces the narrator, a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

drummer boy, and his dog Shadow. It tells the story of one of the many drummer boys in the Civil War who later became a two-star general,

John Clem John Lincoln Clem (nicknamed Johnny Shiloh; August 13, 1851 – May 13, 1937) was an American general officer who served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He gained fame for his bravery on the battlefield, b ...

. *Volume 2: ''America's Beginnings - The Spaniards'' - Danny Drumm narrates the early exploration of the Americas. *Volume 3: ''The Early Settlement of New Mexico'' - This book is largely about the Spaniard's conquest of New Mexico and touches on the Indian rebellions. *Volume 4: "The Pilgrims" - and the Indians they met and the unrest with the colonies. *Volume 5: about battles and presidents. In the works, not yet released.

Bibliography

Skimin published both novels and nonfiction. *''Los Toros (The Story of Bullfighting)'' (nonfiction, 1973) *''The Booze Game'' (memoir, 1976) *''The Rhodesian Sellout'' (nonfiction, 1977) *''Soldier for Hire'' (series of adventure novels; Skimin wrote four books in the series, while other writers contributed to the series) **''Zulu Blood'' (1981) **''Trojan in Iran'' (1981) **''U.N. Sabotage'' (1981) **''Bloodletting!'' (1982) *''Chikara!'' (historical novel, 1984) *''

Gray Victory ''Gray Victory'' is a 1988 alternate history novel by Robert Skimin, taking place in an alternate 1866 where the Confederacy won its independence. Plot introduction The first point of divergence occurs during the American Civil War in May 1864, ...

'' (alternate history novel, 1988) *''Renegade Lightning'' (written with Ferdie Pacheco) (historical novel, 1992) *''Apache Autumn'' (historical novel, 1993) *''Ulysses: A Biographical Novel of U.S. Grant'' (historical novel, 1994) *''The River and the Horsemen: A Novel of the Little Bighorn'' (historical novel, 1999) *''Custer's Luck'' (written with William E. Moody) (alternate history novel, 2000) *''Footprints of Heroes: From the American Revolution to the War in Iraq'' (nonfiction, 2005) *''Danny Drumm's Heroes'' (four juvenile history books, 2006-2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skimin, Robert People from Lorain County, Ohio People from El Paso, Texas United States Army officers 1929 births 2011 deaths American male writers Military personnel from Texas