Robert Shields (diarist)

Robert William Shields
Born(1918-05-17)May 17, 1918
Seymour, Indiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 15, 2007(2007-10-15) (aged 89)
Dayton, Washington, U.S.
Occupations
  • Minister
  • high school teacher
Known for37.5-million-word diary
SpouseGrace Augusta Hotson
Children3

Robert William Shields (May 17, 1918 – October 15, 2007) was an American minister and high school English teacher best known for writing a diary of 37.5 million words, which chronicled every five minutes of his life from 1972 until a stroke disabled him in 1997.[1][2] Shields's diary, which filled 91 boxes, was longer than those kept by the journalist Edward Robb Ellis (21 million words) and the poet Arthur Crew Inman (17 million words), and 30 times longer than that of Samuel Pepys (1.25 million words).[3]

  1. ^ Isay, David (January 27, 1994). "Robert Shields, World's Longest Diary". NPR. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Feldman, Michael (May 6, 2000). "Michael Interviewed... Robert Shields Diarist and former Reverend". NotMuch.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes_shields2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).