The Author

R. Sullivan has been a life-long enthusiast for Theodore Roosevelt, his family and his legacy. He is a Trustee for the Theodore Roosevelt Association and is a member of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Calvary Regiment - Tampa Rough Riders.

He is passionate about history and is a voracious reader. He conducts extensive research using first-person books and documents when possible, and has accessed hundreds of historical and current books, documents and materials for his novels. He conducts online research, visits libraries, conducts interviews and goes on-site whenever possible to retrace the steps of Theodore Roosevelt.

Sullivan has visited most of the places frequented by TR in the state of New York, including TR’s birthplace, Oyster Bay and his two churches, Sagamore Hill, Greenlawn Cemetery, Syracuse and Buffalo.

Sullivan has visited the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio where TR stayed before going with his Rough Riders to Cuba for the Spanish-American War. The troops traveled by train from San Antonio to Tampa to board ships to Santiago de Cuba. Sullivan has visited the locations in Tampa including the Tampa Bay Hotel, staging areas and the procession route through Ybor City to Port Tampa.

He attended the 120th Commemoration of the Battle of San Juan Hill (Kettle Hill) in Santiago de Cuba and charged up the hill with the Tampa Rough Riders. Visiting Kenya, he retraced the trek that TR made through the region while embarking on his Africa Expedition.

Sullivan seeks out locations, some even remote, where he may find interesting links. Examples include the Bulloch Mansion in Atlanta, or Gainesville Florida where he retraced the steps of Booker T. Washington as he arrived by train in 1903, or the Horace Wilkinson home in Syracuse where TR stayed during the trail for the libel suit he brought against William Barnes, now a college fraternity house.

In Washington, DC he visited Alice Roosevelts’ home on Dupont Circle, Bammie’s home where TR frequently stayed and TR’s church and sat in his pew.

He has traveled through Wyoming, North and South Dakota learning about TR’s life in the Badlands, his works of conservation and the people that he came to know. In Medora and surrounding areas, Eros has visited all places related to TR including the actual ranch sites of The Maltese Cross and Elkhorn. Dickinson State University is a favorite resource for research. He looks forward to the future opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, whose motto with which he agrees - “The world needs Theodore Roosevelt now more than ever”.

The Inspiration

R. Sullivan's interest in the Roosevelt family began at a young age when his grandmother took him to visit Sagamore Hill.

She proudly pointed out to him the plumbing. Her father, Lawrence T. Mulhearn, was a plumber in Far Rockaway, Queens. He had been one of the men who worked on Teddy Roosevelt’s home while it was being built. Sullivan never forgot his grandmother’s pride at being humbly connected to that home.

With a sparked interest, over time Sullivan began to research the history behind the American icons that comprised the Roosevelt family and shaped history. What Sullivan discovered was a family built on loyalty and riddled with secrecy.