Robert Goldsborough was born October 3, 1937, in
Chicago, the son of architect Robert Vincent Goldsborough and Wilma (Janak) Goldsborough. He grew up in
Elmhurst, Illinois, and graduated from
York Community High School before attending
Northwestern University, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree (1959, 1960) from the
Medill School of Journalism.
Journalism After a year of reporting for the
Associated Press, Goldsborough went to work for the
Chicago Tribune as a reporter (1960–1963). From 1963 to 1966, he served as assistant editor of the newspaper's Sunday magazine and
TV Week, which he edited from 1966 to 1967. He was assistant to the features editor (1967–1971) and editor (1971–1972), and was named Sunday editor (1972–1975) and editor of the Sunday magazine (1975–1982). In 1982, he joined
Advertising Age as editor and became the magazine's special projects director in 1988.
Nero Wolfe Goldsborough gained national renown in the 1980s with the publication — approved by the estate of
Rex Stout — of his
Nero Wolfe mystery
Murder in E Minor (1986). Written privately for his mother back in 1978, shortly after the death of Stout (creator of the Nero Wolfe mysteries), Goldsborough's novel received a
Nero Award. Fourteen other Nero Wolfe books by Goldsborough followed, including (2020). "As the one who extended the life of Rex’s Stout’s famed private eye Nero Wolfe with seven novels in the 1980s and ’90s, I got both praise and derision — praise from readers who were glad to have more tales of Wolfe and his loyal right-hand,
Archie Goodwin, and derision from those who either lamented that 'you haven’t got it right' or who felt fictional characters should be allowed to die with their creators," Goldsborough wrote in 2011. Goldsborough resumed his Nero Wolfe series with
Archie Meets Nero Wolfe (2012), a prequel to Stout's novels, followed by
Murder in the Ball Park (2014).
Snap Malek In 2005, Goldsborough turned his attention to creating books with his own characters, beginning with ''Three Strikes You're Dead
, a mystery set in pre-war Chicago, featuring Steve (Snap) Malek, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. In February 2006, Three Strikes You're Dead
was named Best Historical Mystery at the eighth annual Love is Murder awards banquet. Terror at the Fair'' (2011), the fifth book in the Snap Malek series, received the Lovey Award in 2012. ==Bibliography==