Draft:Daniel Robb

Daniel Robb (born 1965) is an American storyteller and writer of non-fiction books, including Crossing the Water (2001) and Sloop (2008).

Early life and education
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Robb was raised in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has a BA in English from Middlebury College, and an MA in English from the Bread Loaf School of English.

Crossing the Water
In Crossing the Water, Robb chronicles his experience teaching at the Penikese Island School, a live-in school for troubled youth on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts. The book juxtaposes stories of the adolescent boys who have been adjudicated to the island (as an alternative to incarceration) with Robb's recollections from his own youth, and discusses the juvenile justice system and the influence of the isolated island and its natural beauty on the boys' recovery process. “In essence, what we’re trying to do is put the boy in the environment he was denied for 15 years or more. If a kid has grown up in a chaotic environment, you can’t expect to heal him without giving him the basics for every kid: attention, nurturing, love, psychological calm and consistency,” Robb said. “Which is why Penikese is expensive compared to jail.”

Outside Magazine writes “Robb spent a year and a half [on Penikese Island] mentoring teenage boys whose crimes ranged from flunking out of foster homes to attempted murder... Robb tries to instill algebra, poetry, and life lessons in his charges as the island does the rest. Without lapsing into sentimentality–one school founder jokes that “we turn a lot of potential murderers into car thieves”–this graceful memoir reveals the mettle of kids who can persevere past the chaos of their lives to an epiphany like this: “I useta be a bad-ass fuckup, and now I don’t really want to be one as much.”

Sloop
In Sloop, Robb writes about rebuilding a family sailboat, a wooden Herreshoff 12½ designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, a project which expands into a meditation on the values of community, place, and tradition. “Robb offers a meditative, humorous and insightful chronicle of his efforts to rebuild a long-neglected boat that has been in his family for three generations."

Radio
In 1996, Robb and radio producer Jay Allison (The Moth Radio Hour) collaborated on a piece produced for “This American Life” entitled ‘The Moment Dad Left’, juxtaposing the recollections of Robb, his mother, and his father, on the day his father moved out of the home when Robb was three years old. It is frequently broadcast on Father’s Day in the US. Robb was featured in an episode of Talk of the Nation, discussing the Penikese Island School and the book Crossing the Water.

Crossing the Water
The Washington Post writes: “A skilled and careful writer,” Robb "excels at describing the beautiful flora and fauna of the 75-acre island, as well as the cramped quarters he shares with his colleagues... “Robb's adventures -- and misadventures -- in "Crossing the Water" provide convincing evidence that effort is sometimes its own reward.”

Sloop
"Sloop is a colorful, endearing and gracefully written paean to a vanishing culture and a celebration of core American values worth preserving."

"Robb’s Sloop proves he “is a craftsman… with words as well as with a hammer, as he constructs a charming tale that both details the technical nature of boatbuilding and captures the essence of the past, present, and future of a New England maritime community”

"It is really about falling in love with the things in our lives that are old, wooden and in need of attention. By taking on these restoration projects, we find out more about ourselves and our community."

Other publications

 * A Walk in the Woods Education Week/Teacher Magazine (December 2005)


 * As They Like It Education Week/Teacher Magazine (March 2003)


 * No Stone Unturned Education Week/Teacher Magazine (April 2002)


 * Judgment Call Education Week/Teacher Magazine (August 2005)


 * Don't Call it School Education Week/Teacher Magazine (November 2006)


 * Lost and Found Education Week/Teacher Magazine (November 2004)


 * A Man of Letters Education Week/Teacher Magazine (January 2004)

Personal Life
Robb is the grandson of Judge Roger Robb of the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. He is the great-grandson of Charles Henry Robb.