The Authors

The Eagle Mutiny

After receiving a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in English Literature from San Francisco State College, Roberto Loiederman worked as a deck-hand on 14 American-flag merchant vessels, first as ordinary seaman, then as able seaman (AB). His first three ships, in 1966 and 1967, went to Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines during the height of the war and were similar, in crew, cargo and vibe, to the ship on which the mutiny took place. During those years, Roberto was in the Seafarers International Union, the same union which provided the crew for the Columbia Eagle.

After ending his seafaring career in 1974, Roberto and his wife moved to Israel, where he wrote, co-produced and narrated a number of audio-visual shows and documentary films, including a series of four half-hour movies about the old city of Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Quartet, which aired on PBS and on European television. In 1981, he moved to L.A. and worked as a TV writer, including writing stories and scripts for such shows as Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Father Dowling. In recent years, he's worked as a journalist and feature writer with more than 100 articles published in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Penthouse, Jewish Journal, Tribe Magazine, Serving House Journal, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Santa Fe Writers Project and many others.

Richard Linnett is a non-fiction writer and journalist. He is the author of In the Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie the Boot Boiardo (Rutgers/Rivergate Press, 2013), a biography of the New Jersey gang lord who inspired David Chase to create the hit HBO series "The Sopranos." He is now working on the documentary film Paradox Valley USA about the "uranium renaissance" in America, and Stone Free a non-fiction book about McKinley Nolan, an Army infantryman who was one of only two officially recognized traitors of the Vietnam War, and the only one still at large. Richard's pursuit of McKinley's story was featured in the award-winning documentary The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan, directed by Henry Corra, produced by Danny Glover.

Richard has written about Sean Flynn, a combat photographer and son of Errol Flynn who disappeared in Cambodia during the Vietnam War; Chet Baker, the jazz artist who died of a heroin overdose; and Dee Farmer, a transsexual who was raped in prison and won a landmark judgment in U.S. Supreme Court. His work has appeared in the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Weekly, Penthouse, and others. He was a reporter for United Features Syndicate, New York, a contributing film critic with Cineaste Magazine and a media reporter and columnist with Adweek and Advertising Age. He is an MFA Writing graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts and a BA graduate of George Washington University.