Robert Mailer Anderson was born in San Francisco and is a 7th generation native "Californio." He is the author of the best-selling novel "Boonville," co-writer/producer of the film "PIG HUNT," and a contributor to The Anderson Valley Advertiser since the age of fifteen. His writing has appeared in San Francisco Noir, Zyzzyva, Christopher Street, Encore, San Francisco Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Argonaut, and Ishmael Reed's Konch, among other publications. Aside from a strange rash of other seemingly dissimilar occupations, endeavors and accolades, Anderson was a barista at North Beach's historic Caffe Trieste, an SFJAZZ board trustee, a member of President Obama's 2012 National Finance Committee, the 2013 Selkirk Colonial Society Standard Bearer, and a recipient of the 2016 San Francisco Arts Medallion.