Robert Wilder
Robert Ingersoll Wilder was a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Wilder's childhood was spent at Daytona Beach, Florida. Following a stint in the United States Army during World War I, he was educated at Stetson University and Columbia University. At various times in his life, Mr. Wilder was a soda jerk, a ship fitter, a theater usher, a shipping clerk, a newspaper copy boy, a publicity agent, a radio executive, and a journalist.
Mr. Wilder traveled widely and contributed stories to The New Yorker, among other magazines. He was author of two plays, Sweet Chariot, based on the life and career of activist Marcus Garvey, and Stardust, both of which were produced on Broadway. He also wrote the screenplay for the classic western, The Big Country, in 1958.
Mr. Wilder was married and had a son.
“He pointed to the board where the word 'alliteration' had been written in handwriting far better than mine, which on good days looks like it came from the hand of a blind doctor writing his own morphine scripts in an earthquake.”