Michael D. Roberts got his start as a newspaper reporter in 1962 and joined the Plain Dealer in 1963. He received the Ohio Associated Press Award in 1966 for exposing a forged Rembrandt painting. He reported on assignment from Vietnam, the Middle East, and the newspaper’s Washington Bureau. In 1970 he co-wrote (with colleague Joe Eszterhas) the first book about the Kent State University shootings, Thirteen Seconds (still considered a definitive narrative of the events more than 50 years later). He joined Cleveland Magazine in 1972 and served as editor for 17 years. He worked in public relations and continued to write periodically for several publications. He passed away in 2025.
