Robert Ruark (December 29, 1915 in Wilmington, North Carolina – July 1, 1965 in London, England)[1] was an American author, syndicated columnist, and big game hunter.

He graduated early from New Hanover High School, and enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at age 15.

In the 1930s, Ruark was fired from an accounting job in the Works Progress Administration, and did a hitch in the United States Merchant Marine.

During World War II, Ruark was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy, and served ten months as a gunnery officer on Atlantic and Mediterranean convoys.

In 1938, Ruark married Virginia Webb, an interior designer from an upper-middle-class family in the Washington, D.C., area, and a graduate of Georgetown University.

After enjoying some success as a writer, Ruark decided that it was time to fulfill a lifelong dream to go on safari to Africa, fueled by his doctor's advice to have a year's rest.

[2] Legendary Ker and Downey Safaris booked him with Harry Selby, and Ruark began a love affair with Africa.

Selby became an overnight legend and was subsequently booked for up to five years in advance by Americans wishing to duplicate Ruark's adventures.

Though extremely difficult to find, a 16mm print of this movie was discovered in 2002, and a DVD copy was created and donated to the Robert Ruark Foundation in Southport, North Carolina.

In the stories, young Bob Ruark grows up hunting and fishing in coastal North Carolina, always guided by the Old Man.

However, the pain of his parents' difficult domestic life and his relatively few childhood friends (Ruark, something of a child prodigy in school, was a loner) are tellingly absent from the narratives.