Robert Rimmer

Robert Henry Rimmer (March 14, 1917 – August 1, 2001) was an American writer who authored several books, most notably The Harrad Experiment, which was made into a film in 1973 followed by a 1974 sequel.

Early life and education Robert Henry Rimmer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 14, 1917, to Francis "Frank" Henry Rimmer, owner of the Relief Printing Corporation, and Blanche Rosealma, née Rochefort, Rimmer in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Bates College with a multi-disciplinary degree in English, Psychology and Philosophy and later obtained an MBA from Harvard.

Career Rimmer served in World War II. When his enlistment was up, he returned to the U.S. and took a position in the family printing business. He stated, "Little did I know as a growing fetus in Blanche's womb that twenty-nine years later Relief Printing Corporation would own me, and FH, as I began to call him ("Dad" seemed inappropriate when I was finally in business with him), would be subtly controlling my life." 25 years passed before he wrote his first novel.

He married his wife Erma Richards, a dental technician who had cleaned his teeth, on August 1, 1941.

His relationship with his father, especially, and his mother are reflected in some of his works, such as the novel The Rebellion of Yale Marrat. Rimmer stated, "I transformed portions of my realities into fiction. Pat Marrat, for example, is a fleshier, cigar-smoking version of FH. The conflict between Matt Godwin and his father in The Immoral Reverend has many similarities."

Rimmer has stated that his greatest influences came from reading books, since this was the only real available entertainment in his developmental years, especially reading of his heroes such as Benjamin Franklin and the "Bound to Rise" heroes of Horatio Alger, as well as Hans Christian Andersen, Mark Twain, and the unexpurgated Arabian Nights.

Rimmer died in Quincy, Massachusetts, on August 1, 2001.

Publications

Film adaptations Rimmer's novel The Harrad Experiment was made into a film in 1973, a sequel called Harrad Summer was released in 1974 and That Girl from Boston was adapted in 1975.