Craig Robinson doesn’t really consider himself an author. The first brother-in-law — the 48-year-old Robinson is two years older than sister and first lady Michelle Obama — is an Ivy League graduate, sure. And yes, he’s an accomplished college basketball coach. But writer?
“I never envisioned myself as an author,” Robinson said during a recent phone interview.
The thing is, Robinson can most certainly claim to be a writer, having penned “A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond,” which was published in April.
On Saturday, Robinson will participate in the National Book Festival. He’ll discuss “A Game of Character” and sign copies of the work.
“A Game of Character” is Robinson’s memoir, centered on life lessons he has learned. The major influences in his life were his parents, but he also includes other key people such as teachers, mentors and coaches.
“I was fortunate to have parents who taught their children to work hard, to be good citizens,” Robinson said.
While Robinson had kicked around writing something about the lessons instilled in him by his family for a few years, it was when he introduced Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention that he determined to finally see the project to fruition. Robinson felt his father, Fraser — who died in 1991 — would have been proud to see what his children had accomplished (their mother, Marian, currently lives with the first family).
“It’s a love letter to my parents for encouraging all of these lessons in us,” Robinson said.
While Robinson has learned multiple values throughout his life, one leaps out: The hard work of his father, who was employed at a Chicago water plant. Fraser battled multiple sclerosis.
“What served me well was just watching my dad get up every day and go to work,” Robinson said. “That was a lesson I learned early on.”
Robinson attended Princeton, where he was a standout forward on the school’s basketball team. After earning a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Robinson worked in finance. He later returned to basketball as head coach at Brown University, and now coaches at Oregon State University.
Robinson said reading “comes at a different time for everybody,” and he is looking forward to the National Book Festival.
And yes, Robinson is now a writer. Right alongside David Remnick, Jonathan Franzen and Martha Grimes.
“I want to go and experience it,” he said. “It’s a celebration of reading, a joy of reading.”
