Robert L. Mitchell

Robert Mitchell's twelve-year initiation experience transformed him from warrior spirit to teacher archetype. The initiation began in the skies over Vietnam, where a combat helicopter pilot learned what the god of war demanded of his warriors. Wounded in body and soul, when he left the military he fled toward the mysterious forces that had awakened his warrior spirit. They led him to a small fishing village on the island of Crete. For twelve years he wandered through Europe, North Africa, Mexico, and the American Southwest, surrendering himself to forces he could not name, committed to redeeming and transforming his warrior spirit.

In 1982 he walked into a classroom. For twenty-seven years he taught English, history, math, and art to secondary students. The teacher he became retained the warrior spirit in the background and became an activist for educational reform. His five books form one continuous arc across two overlapping trilogies, from the wounds of war to the soul of democracy. Robert Mitchell lives in California and continues writing and lecturing for educational reform.