Robert has been writing stories and poems since 1978—when his parents left a typewriter unattended on the kitchen table.

In recent years, his work has appeared in a handful of literary journals and on numerous unsolicited postcards to family and friends.

His twenty-one favorite movies, in alphabetical order, are:

‍ ‍- A Complete Unknown
- A Few Good Men
- All the President’s Men
- Casablanca
- Deliver Me from Nowhere
- Dreamer
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- Ida
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Moneyball
- Purple Rain
- Rear Window (1954 version)
- Rocky
- Shadowlands (1993 version)
- Stalag 17
- Star Wars
- The Big Short
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Sound of Music
- Three Colors: Blue
- Wuthering Heights (1939 version)

His three favorite hot sauces, ranked, are:

1. Pain is Good, Garlic #37
2. Yellow Bird, Habanero
3. Cholula, Chipotle

His five favorite Prince songs, in alphabetical order, are:

- “Adore”
- “Another Lonely Christmas”
- “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”
- “Let’s Go Crazy”
- “Purple Rain”

His favorite Bob Dylan song is:

- “Brownsville Girl”

His favorite Robert Bly poem is:

- “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter”
‍ ‍Click here to read the poem on the Library of Congress’ website

His four favorite books, in alphabetical order, are:

- A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
- Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Life Work by Donald Hall
- The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

His six favorite Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs, in the order they appeared on albums, are:

‍ ‍- Breakdown
- American Girl
- Refugee
- Southern Accents
- Walls - Circus
- Room at the Top