Robert Ellsberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 (age 68–69) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Harvard College Harvard Divinity School |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Employer | Orbis Books |
| Spouse | Monica Olson |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Daniel Ellsberg Carol Cummings |
| Relatives | Mary Ellsberg (sister) Michael Ellsberg (half-brother) |
| Signature | |
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Robert Ellsberg (born 1955) is an American religious publisher and author who is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Orbis Books, the publishing arm of Maryknoll.
Robert is the son of Carol Cummings, the daughter of a Marine Corps Brigadier General, and the American military analyst and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. He is the older brother of epidemiologist Mary Ellsberg and half-brother of author Michael Ellsberg. He was raised Episcopalian. After his parents' divorce, he lived with his mother and sister in Los Angeles. In October 1969, at his father's request, the thirteen-year-old Ellsberg and his sister helped photocopy pages of the Pentagon Papers, in an effort to teach them "the importance of following one's conscience".[1]
He spent his senior year in high school as an exchange student in England.[2]
In 1975, at age 19, Ellsberg dropped out of Harvard, intending to spend a few months with the Catholic Worker Movement in New York City. He stayed to become the managing editor of The Catholic Worker for two years (1976–78), a job where he met Dorothy Day with whom he worked for the last five years of her life.[3] In 1978 Ellsberg and his father were arrested outside the Rocky Flats Plant, a manufacturing complex, while protesting nuclear armaments. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1980. That year, Ellsberg returned to Harvard,[2] and earned a degree in religion and literature, and later a Master's in Theology from Harvard Divinity School.[4]
In 1984 his book By Little and By Little won a Christopher Award.[5]
In 1987 he began work as editor-in-chief of Orbis Books. He is the author of several books, many of which have received awards; his Blessed Among All Women tied a Catholic Press Association record by winning awards for Gender, Spirituality, and Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. He is the editor of the published diaries and letters of Dorothy Day.
He has written a number of articles for the Jesuit Review, America,[6] the National Catholic Reporter,[7] and Maryknoll Magazine. Around 2015, he was contacted by art historian Sister Wendy Beckett, who was looking for a particular series of books on Vatican II. Through their shared interests in saints, they continued to correspond regularly by email until her death in 2018.[8]
