Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan (October 17, 1948–September 16, 2007), a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time®, with millions of books in print.

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reily.

Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina, where he lived with his wife, Harriet, in a house built in 1797. He taught himself to read when he was four (with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother) and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. After graduating from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics, he served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with "V", and two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. A history buff, he also wrote dance and theater criticism. In September, 2007, Jordan died from complications of a rare blood disease. He was 58 years old.