A short life of the author
Robert Kurson (b. 1963) was born in 1963. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Harvard Law School. He practiced real estate law before becoming a writer, contributing to Esquire and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Life and Career
Shadow Divers (2004) — about John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, two recreational scuba divers who in 1991 discovered a German U-boat sunk in 230 feet of water off the New Jersey coast, and spent years risking their lives to identify it — was a massive bestseller and won the American Library Association’s Alex Award. The book works as adventure narrative, historical detective story, and meditation on obsession. Several divers died during the years-long effort to identify the submarine, which turned out to be U-869.
Crashing Through (2007) — about Mike May, a man blinded at age three who regained his sight at forty-six and had to learn how to see — explored the neuroscience of vision.
Pirate Hunters (2015) — about the search for the wreck of a seventeenth-century pirate ship — returned to underwater adventure. Rocket Men (2018) — about Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon — was his most recent major work.
Major Works and Themes
Kurson writes about obsession, risk, and the human drive to solve mysteries at great personal cost. His structural gift is pacing — his nonfiction reads with the momentum of a thriller.
Key Works
- Shadow Divers (2004)
- Rocket Men (2018)
- Pirate Hunters (2015)
Collecting Kurson
Shadow Divers (2004, Random House) brings $15–$40 for first editions. Signed copies bring $40–$80.