Robert Fromberg

Robert Fromberg grew up in Peoria, Illinois, with his artist parents and two siblings, one autistic. At age 16, he left for New York City, where he worked in warehouses and spent his nights at CBGB. At age 19, after the death of his parents, he returned to Peoria and became guardian of his autistic brother.

In his 20s and 30s, Fromberg published fiction in Indiana Review, Colorado Review, and other journals; graduated from the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers; and taught writing at Northwestern University.

After a 20-year break, he returned to writing. His forthcoming memoir, How to Walk with Steve (Latah Books), depicts life with his autistic brother. His other recent prose is in Hobart, Los Angeles Review of Books, Litro Magazine, and elsewhere.

Fromberg has two children and lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, Sheryl Lilke, a psychotherapist and painter.

Praise for How to Walk with Steve

“Fragmented yet unified, direct yet elusive, How to Walk with Steve is a vivid memoir about family and geography, obligation and freedom. Fromberg has a remarkable ability to inject meaning into silence, into the cracks between sections, into all the things that remain unsaid.”
– Brett Biebel, author of 48 Blitz

“In refusing easy consolations, Fromberg has created a memoir that shines like polished bone.”
– Patricia Eakins, author of The Hungry Girls and Other Stories

“Without a trace of affectation or adornment, Fromberg depicts the searing moments that made him who he is. Never have I read a more authentic, deeply-felt rendering of a child’s developing mind.”
– Leslie Lawrence, author of The Death of Fred Astaire and Other Essays from a Life Outside the Lines