Robert Kolker stops by the Front Porch! We missed having Linny join us for the interview, but what a good time Nancy had visiting with this NYT best selling author. Robert talks about his hopes for this book as a story of an entire family dealing with schizophrenia – a quilt that included the viewpoints of each family member. We learn about his formatting innovation at the start of every chapter that helps readers keep track of which individuals are foregrounded in each chapter. Robert tells us how he crafted the overall narrative approach and how Mimi, Margaret, Lindsey, and Donald’s stories became the primary stories we follow and how their relationships with one another change over the decades. We learn what reader feedback takes his breath away. Robert tells Nancy he knew little about severe mental illness before writing this book but did not want the book to read like a medical textbook but rather a family story that provides a context for better understanding the evolution of schizophrenia research and treatment. Robert shares books by other authors who inspire his storytelling. Robert shares that the book’s selection as the One Book One Lincoln was a singular honor for him to have an entire community read his book. He remarks that it is an amazing thing that Lincoln was willing to have discussions about the difficult topics the book explores, including mental illness, abuse, murder, and suicide. Nancy attempts to restrain her fangirling, but mentions how much she enjoyed Robert Kolker’s article in the New York Times Magazine, The Fugitive, which she read and loved when it was published several years ago. Robert talks about how his work has evolved into focusing on ordinary people involved in extraordinary circumstances. He tells Nancy about the positive experience he had when his book, Lost Girls, and his article, Bad Education, were made into full-length films. Robert brings us up to date on the Galvins and researchers from Hidden Valley Road. He is pleased at the call for more drug innovation. He also talks about some of his recent articles in the New York Times Magazine and also his thoughts on a new book-length project.