Hi. I’m Paul Robert Walker, author of more than thirty published books on subjects from the Italian Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American West to folklore, baseball, and miracles. I've written some books for adults, some for younger readers, some for any readers, and I have walked both sides of the fine line between fiction and nonfiction.
People sometimes ask me why I have written on such a variety of subjects for different age groups, and the simple answer is that I am one of the fortunate few to make a living as an author, and one book often leads to another. The deeper answer is that every book is a journey into story, and every story has power.
My first memories of storytelling are from my mother, the daughter of Danish immigrants, who told me how her father, Paul Hoff Kunst—a writer, editor, and storyteller who was knighted by the King of Denmark—made her cry by telling her "The Little Matchgirl" by Hans Christian Andersen. I thought then, as I still think now, that a story that could make my mother cry must be very powerful.
I invite you to explore my books and the stories they tell. Some might make you cry, others might make you laugh, but I hope that all of them show you something about our world and the people in it, maybe even something about yourself.
Good reading!
Paul Robert Walker was born in Oak Park, Illinois — just like Ernest Hemingway, only later. He studied acting at Boston University School of Fine Arts and graduated magna cum laude & Phi Beta Kappa in Anglo-American literature from Occidental College. A former high school English teacher, journalist, and rock musician, Walker has been honored by the American Library Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, the Children's Book Council, the American Folklore Society, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Arkansas Library Association, School Library Journal, and Storytelling World. Mr. Walker is a member of the Authors Guild, American Mensa, and the Epilepsy Foundation. He lives in Escondido, California.
For more biographical information, click Author Bio.
Author photos by Debbie Stockton (upper left) and Dariel Walker (center right).