Author Robert Charlesson

Robert Charlesson is the nom de plume–or in less pretentious language, the pen name–of Robert C. Stroud.

If you are interested in C.S. Lewis and his literary friends, you may want to visit his blog, Mere Inkling. It addresses a wide range of subjects, and invariably includes some reference to the great Christian writer.

Charlesson is also proud of being an occasional reporter for the outstanding online news site, The Salty Cee.

Biographical Note

The pen name was chosen for two reasons. Robert is the son of Charles, and is certified 50% Norse in ethnic heritage. Chuck was a USMC sergeant major, which accounts for early scarring on Robert’s psyche. Chuck was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. He far outlived his military life expectancy, before ultimately succumbing to old age and cirrhosis of of the liver (a hallmark of twentieth century Marines).

Robert’s mother was a patient Christian woman whose living faith was key to his own recognition that Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior. After attending seminary, Robert served as a civilian pastor, before accepting a call to active duty in the United States Air Force chaplaincy.

He currently resides on a distressingly insecure compound near Puget Sound. While he knows zombies are not real, he still has some apocalyptic concerns. Nuclear war is not among them. He recognizes his proximity to Naval Submarine Base Bangor ensures such a conflict would result in his immediate transition to Paradise. Likewise, he is concerned for relatives who live near the coast, gambling their lives on the delay of the inevitable Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. But he does not worry about his home since his altitude, and the barrier constituted by the Olympic Peninsula, protect him from the impending megatsunami.

There is, however, one actual “apocalyptic event” that does concern him–a coronal mass ejection. The fact that insane dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Iran’s mullahs can replicate the disastrous effects via a nuclear electromagnetic pulse, is also unsettling.

Concerns such as these, are one of the reasons why humor is so important. As one author, who remains intelligent despite having a PhD, says: “Humor is, of course, the one thing that fear cannot abide…”

A Few of Charlesson’s Many Endorsements

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“I have not been totally unentertained by reading some of Charlesson’s work. However, that should . . . be considered an endorsement of his work.”

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

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“What can I say? Charlesson’s writing murmurs for itself.”

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

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“Charlesson was educated as a journalist. If he persisted in such pursuits he could have been successful. However, he ventured into other, less fruitful fields. If he had followed the counsel of his collegiate creative writing professor, and ‘stuck to nonfiction,’ the world might now be a happier place.”

Dorothy Leigh Sayers

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“I’m not quite sure what to say about this author other than that his writing actually scares me.”

Stephen Edwin King

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“Charlesson is an adequate satirist. While I would not dream of comparing his scribblings to Gulliver’s Travels, he might someday–should he live long enough–reach the level of my A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick.“

The Very Reverend Jonathan Swift

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“The writings of the Reverend Doctor Robert Charlesson are the only thing that help me make sense of the universe.”

Albert Einstein

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“‘We’ve read many a book, and not all were worthwhile!’
Said the Star-Belly Sneetches beginning the trial.
But Charlesson’s words shame even Elephant birds,
They are what gives Umbus the cow’s milk its sour curds.”

Theodor (Dr.) Seuss Geisel

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“This loquacious writer may be unrivaled among the word spinners who were born on the same day in the same hospital as he. Of course, I have not had the opportunity to read material written by his competition, so I would not stake my literary reputation on this possibility.”

Samuel Clemens

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“Charlesson goes where no writer has ever gone before. For that matter, he’s gone where no writer should ever have gone at all.”

Eugene Wesley Roddenberry

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“The printing press can be used to the glory of God, but it may also be employed to serve the Devil. It remains to be seen how these odd documents shall be judged, but suffice it to say here that some things should never be translated into the vernacular.”

Martin Luther