Mikal Gilmore

Mikal Gilmore is an American author best known for his critically acclaimed memoir "Shot in the Heart," which explores his complex relationship with his executed brother Gary Gilmore and their troubled family history. Published in 1995, the book won both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, with USA Today praising it as "one of the most beautifully written, moving nonfiction books published in the past five years." His other notable works include "Night Beat: A Shadow History of Rock and Roll," a music chronology published in 1999, and "Stories Done: Writings on the 1960s and Its Discontents," released in 2009.

Gilmore began his writing career as a music journalist in the early 1970s, contributing articles to Rolling Stone before transitioning to book-length works. His writing often examines themes of family trauma, American violence, and cultural history, blending personal narrative with broader social commentary. Born Michael Gilmore on February 9, 1951, he later changed the spelling of his name. His brother Gary's 1977 execution by firing squad in Utah, following convictions for murdering two men, became a defining event that shaped much of Gilmore's later literary focus.