Robert Rimmer

{{Infobox writer

|name=Robert Rimmer

|birth_name=Robert Henry Rimmer

|birth_date={{birth date|1917|3|14}}

|birth_place=Boston, Massachusetts

|death_date={{death date and age|2001|8|1|1917|3|14}}

|death_place=Quincy, Massachusetts

|genre=Non-fiction

|alma_mater=Bates College

|occupation=Writer

}}

Robert Henry Rimmer (March 14, 1917 – August 1, 2001) was an American writer who authored several books, most notably The Harrad Experiment, which was made into a film in 1973.

The recurring theme in almost all of Rimmer's writing was a criticism of the assumption of monogamy as a societal norm. They explore various ways of organizing life, through laws or other means, to facilitate non-monogamous relationships.

Early life and education

Robert Henry Rimmer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 14, 1917,{{sfnp|Martin|2001}} to Francis "Frank" Henry Rimmer, owner of the Relief Printing Corporation, and Blanche Rosealma, née Rochefort, Rimmer in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Bates College with a multi-disciplinary degree in English, Psychology and Philosophy and later obtained an MBA from Harvard.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Career

Rimmer served in World War II. When his enlistment was up, he returned to the U.S. and took a position in the family printing business. He stated, "Little did I know as a growing fetus in Blanche's womb that twenty-nine years later Relief Printing Corporation would own me, and FH, as I began to call him ("Dad" seemed inappropriate when I was finally in business with him), would be subtly controlling my life."{{sfnp|Zedrozny|1991|p=283}} 25 years passed before he wrote his first novel.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

His relationship with his father, especially, and his mother are reflected in some of his works, such as the novel The Rebellion of Yale Marrat. Rimmer stated, "I transformed portions of my realities into fiction. Pat Marrat, for example, is a fleshier, cigar-smoking version of FH. The conflict between Matt Godwin and his father in The Immoral Reverend has many similarities."{{sfnp|Zedrozny|1991|p=285}}

Rimmer has stated that his greatest influences came from reading books, since this was the only real available entertainment in his developmental years, especially reading of his heroes such as Benjamin Franklin and the "Bound to Rise" heroes of Horatio Alger, as well as Hans Christian Andersen, Mark Twain, and the unexpurgated Arabian Nights.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Rimmer died in Quincy, Massachusetts, on August 1, 2001.{{sfnp|Martin|2001}}

Publications

{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1962 |title=That Girl from Boston |url=https://archive.org/details/thatgirlfrombost00rimm |url-access=registration |publisher=Challenge Press}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1964 |title=The Rebellion of Yale Marratt |url=https://archive.org/details/rebellionofyalem00rimm |url-access=registration |publisher=Challenge Press}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1966 |title=The Harrad Experiment |publisher=Sherbourne Press}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1967 |title=The Zolotov Affair |publisher=Sherbourne Press}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1968 |title=Proposition 31 |publisher=New American Library}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1971 |title=The Harrad Letters to Robert H. Rimmer |publisher=Signet |isbn=0451040376}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1972 |title=Thursday, My Love |publisher=Dutton Adult |isbn=0453003575}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1973 |title=Adventures in Loving |publisher=Signet |isbn=0451056051}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1975 |title=The Premar Experiments |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=0517521482}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1977 |title=Come Live My Life |publisher=New American Library}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1978 |title=Love Me Tomorrow |publisher=Signet |isbn=0451083857}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1980 |title=The Love Explosion |publisher=Signet |isbn=0451095197}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1982 |title=The Byrdwhistle Option |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn= 0879751843}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1986 |title=The X-Rated Videotape Guide |publisher=Harmony |edition=2nd |isbn=0517560585}}
{{cite book |last=Rimmer |first=Robert H. |year=1995 |title=Let's Really Make Love: Sex, the Family, and Education in the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-0879759643}}

Film adaptations

Rimmer's novel The Harrad Experiment was made into a film in 1973, and That Girl from Boston was adapted in 1975.

References

=Works cited=

{{cite news |last=Martin |first=D. |date=August 11, 2001 |title=Robert H. Rimmer, 84, Author of 'The Harrad Experiment' |newspaper=The New York Times |volume=150 |issue=51842 |page=A13}}
{{cite book |chapter=Robert H. Rimmer |year=1991 |title=Contemporary Authors Autobiography |editor-first=Mark |editor-last=Zedrozny |volume=10 |isbn=978-0-8103-4509-6 |publisher=Gale / Cengage Learning}}

External links

{{imdb name|id=0727297|name=Robert H. Rimmer}}

Category:1917 births

Category:2001 deaths

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:American male novelists

Category:American military personnel of World War II

Category:Bates College alumni

Category:Harvard Business School alumni