This Goodly Land

Robert Inman (August 22, 1943–present)

Other Names Used

• Robert Frederick Inman: full name

Alabama Connections

• Elba, Coffee County: birthplace, childhood residence
• Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County: education, adult residence
• Montgomery, Montgomery County: adult residence

Selected Works

• Inman, Robert. Home Fires Burning. Boston: Little, Brown, 1987.
• Inman, Robert. Old Dogs and Children. Boston: Little, Brown, 1991.
• Inman, Robert. Dairy Queen Days: A Novel. Boston: Little, Brown, 1997.
• Inman, Robert. Coming Home: Life, Love, and All Things Southern. Asheboro, N.C.: Down Home Press, 2000.
• Inman, Robert. Captain Saturday: A Novel. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002.
• Inman, Robert. The Christmas Bus. Illus. Lyle Baskin. Charlotte, N.C.: Novello Festival Press, 2006. For younger readers.

Literary Awards

• "I'll Call You" included in Prize Stories 1971: The O. Henry Awards
• Alabama Author Award, Alabama Library Association, 1988, for Home Fires Burning
• Alabama Author Award, Alabama Library Association, 1992, for Old Dogs and Children
• Best Original Television Screenplay, Writers Guild of America, 1998, for The Summer of Ben Tyler
• Alabama Author Award, Alabama Library Association, 2005, for Captain Saturday: A Novel

Biographical Information

Robert Inman was born and raised in Elba, Ala. He became interested in journalism when he started working for his hometown newspaper when he was in junior high school. Inman graduated from the University of Alabama in 1965 with a BS in radio-television journalism. After graduation, he was hired by WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Ala., to work as a reporter and later became an anchorman. From 1969 to 1970, Inman was press secretary to Gov. Albert Brewer. In 1970, he moved to Charlotte, N.C., to work for the television station WBTV. Inman returned to the University of Alabama in 1975 to work in the public relations department. At the same time, he entered the MFA program, from which he graduated in 1979. In 1979, Inman returned to Charlotte and WBTV.

Inman’s master’s thesis was a draft of a novel called The Quarterback. Although he was unable to get it published, the response encouraged him to start work on a second novel. That book, Home Fires Burning, was published in 1987. The production rights were purchased by the Hallmark Hall of Fame television production company, which hired Inman to write the screenplay. Since then, Inman has written both novels and screenplays. He retired from WBTV in 1996 to write full-time. From 1996-2000, he also wrote a column for the Charlotte Observer. Some of these columns were collected in Coming Home: Life, Love, and All Things Southern. Inman currently lives and works in Charlotte and Boone, N.C.

Interests and Themes

Robert Inman’s novels are set in the post-World War II period to present-day South. His works, many set in small towns, deal with social issues and focus on the importance of family and community.

For More Information

Please check your local library for these materials. If items are not available locally, your librarian can help you borrow them through the InterLibrary Loan program. Your librarian can also help you find other information about this author.

There may be more information available through the databases in the Alabama Virtual Library. If you are an Alabama citizen, AVL can be used at your public library or school library media center. You can also get a username and password from your librarian to use AVL at home.

Reference Articles

• Robertson, Brewster Milton. "Robert Inman: According to the Weatherman". Publishers Weekly 24 Dec. 2001: 37.

Reference Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

• Inman, Robert. "The Ghosts in My Grandmother's Attic"; The Remembered Gate: Memoirs by Alabama Writers. Ed. Jay Lamar and Jeanie Thompson. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, . 134-146.

Reference Web Sites

• Inman, Robert. Robert Inman: Novelist and Screenwriter. http://www.robert-inman.com.

Photo courtesy of Robert Inman.

Last updated on May 30, 2008.