Robert Ellsberg
{{Short description|American religious publisher and author (born 1955)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Robert Ellsberg
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1955}}
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
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| education = Harvard College
Harvard Divinity School
| employer = Orbis Books
| occupation = Publisher
| title =
| spouse = Monica Olson
| children = 3
| parents = Daniel Ellsberg
Carol Cummings
| relatives = Mary Ellsberg (sister)
Michael Ellsberg (half-brother)
| signature = Robert_Ellsberg_signature (cropped).jpg
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Robert Ellsberg (born 1955) is an American religious publisher and author who is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Orbis Books, the publishing arm of Maryknoll.
Early life
Robert is the son of Carol Cummings, the daughter of a Marine Corps Brigadier General, and the American military analyst and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. He is the older brother of epidemiologist Mary Ellsberg and half-brother of author Michael Ellsberg. He was raised Episcopalian, although his father's family was originally Jewish.Jewish Telegraphic Agency June 16, 2023 After his parents' divorce, he lived with his mother and sister in Los Angeles. In October 1969, at his father's request, the thirteen-year-old Ellsberg and his sister helped photocopy pages of the Pentagon Papers, in an effort to teach them "the importance of following one's conscience".[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/peacemaker-hero-daniel-el_b_876606 Ellsberg, Robert. "Peacemaker, Hero, Father: Daniel Ellsberg", Huffpost, December 6, 2017]
He spent his senior year in high school as an exchange student in England.[https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/peacemaking/a-fathers-legacy-to-his-son-and-his-country Ellsberg, Robert and Zimmerman, Chris. "A Father’s Legacy to His Son – and His Country", The Plough, June 16, 2023]
Career
In 1975, at age 19, Ellsberg dropped out of Harvard, intending to spend a few months with the Catholic Worker Movement in New York City. He stayed to become the managing editor of The Catholic Worker for two years (1976–78), a job where he met Dorothy Day with whom he worked for the last five years of her life.[https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/series/faith-and-coming-of-age/podcasts/unintended-consequences-robert-and-christina-ellsberg Ellsberg, Robert. "Unintended Consequences: Robert and Christina Ellsberg", Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University, May 4, 2015] In 1978 Ellsberg and his father were arrested outside the Rocky Flats Plant, a manufacturing complex, while protesting nuclear armaments. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1980. That year, Ellsberg returned to Harvard, and earned a degree in religion and literature, and later a Master's in Theology from Harvard Divinity School.[https://orbisbooks.com/pages/about-orbis-publisher-robert-ellsberg "About Orbis Publisher, Robert Ellsberg", Orbis Books]
In 1984 his book By Little and By Little won a Christopher Award.{{cite book |title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985 |year=1984 |publisher=Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-911818-71-5 |page=415}}
In 1987 he began work as editor-in-chief of Orbis Books. He is the author of several books, many of which have received awards; his Blessed Among All Women tied a Catholic Press Association record by winning awards for Gender, Spirituality, and Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. He is the editor of the published diaries and letters of Dorothy Day.
He has written a number of articles for the Jesuit Review, America,[https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/robert-ellsberg "Articles by Robert Ellsberg", America] the National Catholic Reporter,[https://www.ncronline.org/authors/robert-ellsberg Robert Ellsberg: National Catholic Reporter] and Maryknoll Magazine. Around 2015, he was contacted by art historian Sister Wendy Beckett, who was looking for a particular series of books on Vatican II. Through their shared interests in saints, they continued to correspond regularly by email until her death in 2018.[https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/q-robert-ellsberg-who-wrote-about-his-friendship-sr-wendy-beckett "Q & A with Robert Ellsberg, who wrote about his friendship with Sr. Wendy Beckett", Global Sisters Report, November 1, 2022]
Books
- Gandhi on Christianity (1991)
- All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (Crossroad, 1997)
- The Saints' Guide to Happiness: Practical Lessons in the Life of the Spirit, Doubleday, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-385-51566-5}}
- Blessed Among All Women: Reflections on Women Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (Crossroad, 2006).
- The Duty Of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day. {{ISBN|0-87462-023-6}} (editor) Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 2008
- All the Way to Heaven: The Selected Letters of Dorothy Day. {{ISBN|978-0-87462-061-0}} (editor) Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 2010.
- Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses. ISBN 9780814647219 (Liturgical Press, 2016)
References
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Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:20th-century Roman Catholics
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century Roman Catholics
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American religious writers
Category:American Roman Catholic writers
Category:Catholics from New York (state)