Tom Robbins

Robbins was born in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States (US), to George Thomas Robbins and Katherine Belle Robinson. Both of his grandfathers were Southern Baptist preachers. The Robbins family resided in Blowing Rock before moving to Warsaw, Virginia in 1942. Robbins graduated in 1950 from Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, where he won the Senior Essay Medal. The following year he enrolled at Washington and Lee University to major in journalism, leaving at the end of his sophomore year after being disciplined by his fraternity for bad behavior and failing to earn a letter in basketball.

In 1953, he enlisted in the Air Force after receiving his draft notice, spending a year as a meteorologist in Korea, then two years in the Special Weather Intelligence unit of the Strategic Air Command in Nebraska. He was discharged in 1957, returning to Richmond, Virginia where he was a fixture on the local bohemian scene, reading poetry at the Rhinoceros Coffee House.

In late 1957, Robbins enrolled at Richmond Professional Institute, a school of art, drama, and music, which later became Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He was editor of the college newspaper and worked nights on the sports desk of the daily Richmond Times-Dispatch. After graduating with honors from VCU in 1959 and indulging in some hitchhiking, Robbins joined the staff of the Times-Dispatch as a copy editor.

In 1962, Robbins moved to Seattle to seek a Master's degree at the Far East Institute of the University of Washington. During the next five years in Seattle (minus a year spent in New York city researching a book on the painter, Jackson Pollock) he worked for the Seattle Times as an art critic. In 1965, he wrote a column on the arts for Seattle Magazine. Also during this time, he hosted a weekly "underground" radio show at non-commercial KRAB-FM. It was in 1967, while writing a review of the rock band The Doors, that Robbins says he found his literary voice.

In 1967, Robbins moved to South Bend, Washington, where he wrote his first novel. In 1970, Robbins moved to La Conner, Washington, and it was at his home on Second Street that he subsequently authored nine books (although in the late 1990s he spent two years living on the Swomish Indian reservation.

Robbins was a friend of Terence McKenna,^[5] whose influence appears evident in a couple of his books. A main character (Larry Diamond) in Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas advocates a theory similar to those of McKenna, involving the history and cultural influences of psychedelic plants. Robbins also spent time with Timothy Leary and the author has said that one of the protagonists in Jitterbug Perfume (Wiggs Dannyboy) exhibited certain characteristics of Leary's personality; Robbins has admitted to using LSD with Leary.^[6]

Robbins spent three weeks at ceremonial sites in Mexico and Central America with mythologist, Joseph Campbell, and studied mythology in Greece and Sicily with the poet Robert Bly. Robbins also embarked on a solo pilgrimage to Timbuktu.^{[citation needed]}

Robbins has defended, in print, Indian mystic, Osho, although he was never a follower.^{[citation needed]}

He currently is on the advisory Board of the Marijuana Policy Project, a laureate of Seattle's Rainier Club, and on the board of directors of 826 Seattle.

For eight years, Robbins was an enthusiastic participant in Seattle's SPAM carving competition, serving as judge. He has also hosted an annual mayonnaise tasting, often with more than 20 international varieties, at his home in La Conner.

In the 1980s and early '90s, Robbins regularly published articles and essays in Esquire magazine, and also contributed to Playboy, GQ, and Life.

He is friends with Gus Van Sant, and performed the voice-over narration in Van Sant's film adaptation of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. He has been friends with directors Robert Altman and Alan Rudolph, as well, and has had small speaking parts in five feature films.

In 1997, Robbins won the Golden Umbrella award for contributions to the arts, presented annually by the Bumbershoot arts festival in Seattle. In 2000, Robbins was named one of the 100 Best Writers of the 20th Century by Writer's Digest magazine. He has given readings from his work on four continents, performing at festivals in Australia and Mexico, and nightclubs in England and Germany. The legendary Italian critic Fernanda Pivano called Robbins "the most dangerous writer in the world."

Robbins has been married to Alexa D'Avalon since 1987 and continues to live in La Conner with Alexa and their dog, Blini Tomato Titanium. He has three sons: Rip, Kirk and Fleetwood, all from previous marriages.

According to Michael Dare, this is how Tom writes: "When he starts a novel, it works like this. First he writes a sentence. Then he rewrites it again and again, examining each word, making sure of its perfection, finely honing each phrase until it reverberates with the subtle texture of the infinite. Sometimes it takes hours. Sometimes an entire day is devoted to one sentence, which gets marked on and expanded upon in every possible direction until he is satisfied. Then, and only then, does he add a period."^[7]

Robbins has written nine novels, and one collection, since 1971. He has also written numerous short stories and essays.^[8]

• Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
• Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
• Jitterbug Perfume (1984)
• Skinny Legs and All (1990)
• Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994)
• Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000)
• Villa Incognito (2003)
• Wild Ducks Flying Backward (2005) — a collection of essays, reviews, and short stories.
• B Is for Beer (2009)

• "Tom Robbins". Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2012. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hart, James D. (1995). "Robbins, Tom". The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Conversations With Tom Robbins, edited by Liam O. Purdon and Beef Torry, publisher = University of Mississippi Press, Jackson 2011 ISBN 978-1-60473-826-1

• Hoyser, Catherine (1997). Tom Robbins: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-29418-6.
• Siegel, Mark (1980). Tom Robbins. Boise: Boise State University. ISBN 0-88430-066-8. available online
• Gabel, Shainee (1997). Anthem: An American Road Story. New York: Avon books. ISBN 0-380-97419-3.
• Whitmer, Peter (2000). Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America. New York: Citadel. ISBN 0-8065-1222-9.

• AFTRlife - A Tom Robbins playground (fansite)
• The Complete(?) Tom Robbins Bibliography maintained by AFTRLife, current up to 1996
• Dharma Yum - Weblog of the AFTRLife
• Tom Robbins at Random House Australia

Interviews and articles

• The Syntax of Sorcery: An Interview with Tom Robbins (2012)
• Oral history interview with Tom Robbins, 1984 Mar. 3, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (1984)
• From Blowing Rock to Windy Cliff: A Tentative Chronology
• A biographical essay (2003)
• Basking Robbins Interview (1985)
• Salon.com mini-bio (2000)
• Seattle Weekly interview (2000)
• WGA: How to Write Like Tom Robbins

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