Who is Robert Mailer Anderson?

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Robert Mailer Anderson (born 1968) is an American novelist,  screenwriter, playwright, Grammy-nominated producer and activist. He is  the author of the bestselling novel Boonville, which takes place in the Northern California town of Boonville, and the 2016 play The Death of Teddy Ballgame. He is a contributor to the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Anderson is a three-time San Francisco Library Laureate and in 2016 he was presented the San Francisco Arts Medallion for his outstanding leadership in the arts. In August 2020, Anderson was appointed to the California Humanities Board of Directors by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Anderson was born in San Francisco. He is a ninth-generation native of California. Anderson and his two siblings were raised by divorced blue-collar parents. As a young man he spent five years living with his father at Grapevine  Group Home for juvenile delinquents and disturbed youth, where his  father was the director. He also spent time at his father's prior  workplace, Fern Hill School, run by his uncle Bruce Anderson, where residents included future serial killer David Mason and Darrell Waters, who murdered one of the Fern Hill counselors. His uncle, Bruce Anderson, is the publisher of the Anderson Valley Advertiser  for which Robert has been a contributor since 1984 and a fiction  editor. During his time as fiction editor, Anderson attracted talents  like Daniel Handler, Sandow Birk, Floyd Salas and Michelle Tea.

Boonville

A Novel

Robert Mailer Anderson

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