Robert Shea

Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was the co-author of The Illuminatus! Trilogy with Robert Anton Wilson and the author of six other novels.

Early Life
Robert Joseph Shea attended Manhattan Prep, Manhattan College and Rutgers University and worked as a magazine editor in New York and Los Angeles. In the 60's he edited the Playboy Forum where he met Robert Anton Wilson, with whom he collaborated on Illuminatus!

After Illuminatus!
After publishing Illuminatus!, Bob left Playboy to become a full time novelist.

On his own, Shea went on to write historical novels, including Shike (1981) set in medieval Japan, All Things Are Lights (1986) a story that entwines the fate of Cathars of southern France with the occult traditions of Courtly Love and the troubadours, and what probably is his most underrated work -- The Saracen, a book published in two parts in 1989 depicting the struggle between a blond Muslim warrior called Daoud Ibn Abdullah and his French crusader adversary Simon De Gobignon. It's a book of love, intrigue, and suspense during the time of the Crusades.

His (non-fiction) history of Plaza del Lago, From No Man's Land to Plaza Del Lago (1987), traces the locale's wild and woolly days in the early part of the century, when the area belonged to neither town and was lawless.

His last book (published) was the Native American tale Shaman (1991). tracing the fate of the survivors of the Black Hawk War in 19th century Illinois.

His son, Mike Shea, has a few copies of his father's novel Lady Yang (completed but unpublished), a tragic story of an idealistic empress of medieval China.