Robert K. Elder

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Writer Robert K. Elder is best known for his profiles, film reviews, technology pieces and investigative stories in the Chicago Tribune, most notably his debunking of the Del Close skull myth (see below).

His work has been published in The New York Times, Premiere, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Salon.com, The Oregonian, among other publications.

Montana native Elder got his start in journalism by interviewing Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for his high school newspaper. The author encouraged Elder to attend his alma mater, University of Oregon, which Elder did two years later. During his academic career, he ran campus publication The Oregon Voice and archived Kesey's personal papers at the UO's Knight Library.

In the late 1990s, Elder worked for several publications and changed his byline to "Robert K. Elder" after working with another Rob Elder at the San Jose Mercury News.

In 2000, Elder moved to Chicago and was hired as a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune, writing reviews at the former home of critic Gene Siskel.

Elder served as editor for John Woo: Interviews, the first authoritative English-language chronicle of the life, legacy and career film director John Woo. He has also contributed to books on poker, comic books, film design and author Neil Gaiman.

Elder teaches feature writing and entertainment news reporting at Columbia College Chicago. A former member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Elder has taught film classes at Facets Film School.

In June of 2006, Elder debunked the long-believed Chicago legend that Del Close -- improv comedy legend and mentor to talents such as John Belushi, Bill Murray and Steve Carrell -- had donated his skull for use as a stage prop to the Goodman Theatre. While Close had indeed donated his skull to the theater to serve as Yorick in productions of Hamlet, the actual delivery of the skull never happened, due to medical and legal issues, Elder found. In his reporting, Elder noticed, among other things, that the skull had teeth (Close wore dentures) and the screws holding it together were rusty, making the specimen much older than it should have been. After a brief period of denial, those responsible admitted the ruse. The New Yorker reported on this story.

In 2006-07, Elder wrote a series of front page stories on former FBI agent Bob Hamer, SecondLife.com and visual search technology.