Robert Shields (diarist)
Robert William Shields | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 17, 1918 Seymour, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | October 15, 2007 (aged 89) Dayton, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | 37.5-million-word diary |
| Spouse | Grace Augusta Hotson |
| Children | 3 |
Robert William Shields (May 17, 1918 – October 15, 2007) was an American minister and high school English teacher best known for writing a diary of 37.5 million words, which chronicled every five minutes of his life from 1972 until a stroke disabled him in 1997. Shields's diary, which filled 91 boxes, was longer than those kept by the journalist Edward Robb Ellis (21 million words) and the poet Arthur Crew Inman (17 million words), and 30 times longer than that of Samuel Pepys (1.25 million words).