Edward Robb Ellis (February 22, 1911 – September 7, 1998) was an American diarist and journalist. During his career he worked in New Orleans, Chicago and New York City. Ellis began his diary in 1927 as a teenager and wrote almost every day for more than 70 years, filling a volume each year.
He was believed to be the most prolific diarist in the history of American letters, writing an estimated 22 million words.[1] He was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the world's longest diary, until the journals of Robert Shields of Dayton, Washington, with 37.5 million words and crammed with minutes of daily living, were revealed in 1994.[2]
Ellis authored books on the Great Depression and New York City, as well as a study of suicide. According to his book A Diary of the Century, his diaries were bequeathed to the Fales Library at New York University after his death.[3]