Robert Coover is a writer of fiction, plays, poetry, and essays, known for his experimental forms mixing reality and illusion. Coover attended Southern Illinois University, Indiana University (B.A. in Slavic studies, 1953), and the University of Chicago (M.A., 1965). From 1953 to 1957 he served in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Europe. He taught at several universities, notably Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was a professor of creative writing from 1979 to 2012. His books include The Origin of the Brunists (1966), The Public Burning (1976), Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears? (1987), Pinocchio in Venice (1991); John’s Wife (1996); Ghost Town (1998); The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Director’s Cut (2002),  The Brunist Day of Wrath (2014), a sequel to The Origin of the Brunists, and Huck Out West (2017), and Street Cop (2021). Coover died at the age of ninety-two on October 5, 2024.