Robert Skinner has a B A in American History from Old Dominion University and a Master of Library Science Degree from Indiana University. He also studied creative writing at University of New Orleans. He has authored or co-authored four different books dealing with the career of African-American novelist Chester Himes and six novels set in Depression-era New Orleans. His stories have appeared in Xavier Review, War, Literature & the Arts, Louisiana Literature, STORYGLOSSIA, and PlotsWithGuns.com. He is a regular contributor to FIRSTS: The Book Collector's Magazine, for which he has written essays on Elmore Leonard, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., Benjamin Capps, Bernard Cornwell, and Robert Morgan, but to name a few. He's listed in Who's Who In America, Who's Who in the World and The Directory of American Scholars.In 2013 he retired as University Librarian at Xavier University of Louisiana after 26 years.