The personal imprint and story studio of Robert Cummer
Mangrove Publishing exists because some things are worth writing down. Technical knowledge earned over decades. Stories that cut close to the bone. The kind of truth you can only tell after you've lived it.
I publish fiction, memoir, and technical guides—all from real experience, none of it theoretical. Every story I write draws on thirty years in industrial automation: the real risks, the real systems, the real people who keep them running.
Writing wasn't a detour—it was the next logical step. After decades solving problems in plants and control rooms, I realized the best way to capture what I know is through narrative. Stories stick. They change how people think. They raise questions that whitepapers never can.
The Knox Ramsey thrillers explore what happens when smart people meet systems they don't fully control. Work the Problem is a blunt, darkly funny look at open-heart surgery and rebuilding after it. The Boots on the Ground series hands practical wisdom to the next generation of technicians and engineers.
All of it comes from the same instinct: help readers understand something real.
I come from a family where the official story never told the whole truth—and survival was never guaranteed.
My maternal grandfather laid carpet in the homes of automotive titans by day while running a numbers operation from a vending crib. My paternal grandfather, denied education by a state that treated poverty as a holding cell, joined the Marines for three meals and a bed. He survived Guadalcanal and came home to build a life from scratch. My father, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran with the 1st Air Cavalry Division, carried a quiet intensity that now runs through every page I write.
WWII stoic endurance, Vietnam kinetic intensity, and modern engineering precision—three generations collide in my work. I write the way I was raised: trust physics, not software. Verify with your own eyes. And never assume the system is on your side.
Mangrove Publishing is a one-person studio, and that's intentional. Every title carries the same standard: technically authentic, emotionally honest, and built to last. No committee. No compromise. Just the work.
As the catalogue grows—into video, audio, interactive field guides, and transmedia experiences—that standard stays the same. The roots go deep.