Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins is a renowned American novelist celebrated for his distinctive blend of humor, fantasy, and social commentary, often featuring quirky characters. Born on July 22, 1936, in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Robbins's early life was marked by a love for storytelling, heavily influenced by his mother, who wrote children's stories. His formative years included a rebellious streak that led to his attendance at Hargrave Military Academy and subsequent expulsion from Washington and Lee University. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Robbins began writing poetry and eventually transitioned into novel writing.
His debut novel, *A Roadside Attraction*, published in 1971, combines the absurd with critiques of religion and society, setting the stage for his later works. The success of *Even Cowgirls Get the Blues* solidified his reputation, leading to further acclaim and adaptation into a film. Over a career spanning more than four decades, Robbins produced several novels and contributed to prestigious publications, earning recognition as one of the top writers of the 20th century. Today, Robbins is remembered as a significant voice of the 1960s literary movement, reflecting on the era's culture and values through his imaginative storytelling. In 2023, his influence was further celebrated in his hometown with a special parade for his 91st birthday.
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Subject Terms
Tom Robbins
Novelist, essayist, and author
- Born: July 22, 1936
- Place of Birth: Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Education: Hargrave Military Academy; Virginia Commonwealth University
Significance: Tom Robbins was a best-selling American novelist, known for his quirky characters and combining the real with fantastical elements.
Background
Thomas Eugene Robbins was born on July 22, 1936 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to parents George Robbins and Katherine Robinson Robbins. A self-proclaimed "hillbilly" in his youth, Robbins enjoyed attending the small, Appalachian town’s annual circus—an event that would later provide inspiration for one of his most well known novels, A Roadside Attraction. Robbins’s mother wrote religious children’s stories, and encouraged her son’s early interest in storytelling. Robbins would dictate stories to his mother, who would drop everything to write them down. Both of his parents bolstered their son’s love for books, often reading to the boy aloud, until the age of five when Robbins taught himself to read.
When Robbins was still in his adolescence, his family moved to Virginia, where he developed a rebellious streak. His misbehavior inspired Mr. and Mrs. Robbins to enroll their son in the Hargrave Military Academy. Robbins’s predilection for misbehavior followed him to Washington and Lee University, where he was expelled from his fraternity for misconduct, and dropped out of school altogether. In 1953, Robbins was drafted into the United States Air Force, spending a year abroad in South Korea teaching meteorology, and two more years in Nebraska at the Special Weather Intelligence unit.
After his discharge in 1957, Robbins moved back to Richmond, Virginia and began writing poetry. His frequent poetry readings at the Rhinoceros Coffee House garnered the fledgling writer a following of local bohemians. He enrolled in the Virginia Commonwealth University that same year and began writing and editing for the school’s newspaper while simultaneously working at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Upon his graduation in 1959, Robbins was hired to work full time as a copyeditor at the Times-Dispatch before moving to Seattle, Washington.
Life’s Work
Robbins moved to Seattle in 1962 with intentions of receiving a master’s degree from the University of Washington. However, Robbins soon abandoned his pursuit of a degree in favor of a writing position at the Seattle Times. For five years, Robbins worked for the Times as an art critic, and began experimenting with drugs such as LSD. Robbins had a psychedelic revelation, and journeyed to New York City to find others who had tried the drug. During his year in New York, Robbins befriended Timothy Leary, writer and psychedelic advocate, and began researching a book on the painter Jackson Pollock. In 1965, Robbins returned to Seattle and began hosting Notes from the Underground, a radio show on underground radio station KRAB-FM. Robbins would frequently play artists such as the Doors, who were not well known at the time. He also began contributing to arts magazine such as Seattle Magazine, Artforum, and Art in America.
The following year, Luthor Nichols, an editor for the Doubleday publishing company, approached Robbins to write a book on Northwest Art. Robbins was not interested in the topic, but instead pitched Nichols an idea for a novel and in 1967 Robbins wrote his first book, A Roadside Attraction. The novel is a nonlinear story about a clairvoyant, Amanda, and her husband Ziller, who open a combination roadside zoo and hot dog stand. In the novel, the mummified corpse of Jesus Christ is discovered beneath the Vatican, and is stolen and eventually destroyed. In addition to presenting a vivid picture of culture in the 1960s, Robbins also uses the quirky tale as a criticism of religion, and specifically, the Catholic Church. These controversial views made Doubleday, a Roman Catholic publisher, reluctant to publish Robbins’s work. It was not until 1970 that they finally agreed, and the first edition was released in 1971. The novel was not an immediate success when it was released, however, barely selling 3,000 copies.
Robbins next wrote the novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, the tale of Sissy Hankshaw, a model with big thumbs that hitchhikes her way across the country. The novel was a success, and was eventually made into a film in 1993, directed by Gus Van Sant. It was only after the release Cowgirls in 1976 that A Roadside Attraction took off, selling hundreds of thousands of paperback copies and eventually becoming one of the classic novels of the 1960s.
Robbins subsequently went on to write eight more novels, as well as frequently contributing to publications such as Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times. In 2000, Robbins’s impact was recognized by Writer’s Digest magazine, which named Robbins one of the "100 Best Writers of the 20th Century."
Impact
Tom Robbins has sustained a prolific writing career for more than forty years, releasing novels approximately every five years. He is regarded as one of the quintessential writers of the 1960s, using his eccentric stories to paint pictures of moments in time, and comment on various aspects of American society. In 2023, Robbins's hometown held a "King for a Day" parade to honor his 91st birthday.
Personal Life
Robbins met psychic and actress Alexa D’Avalon in 1987, and the pair married in 1994. Additionally, Robbins had three sons, all from previous relationships—Rip, Kirk, and Fleetwood. Robbins and D’Avalon settled down in La Conner, Washington, with their dog Blini Tomato Titanium.
Bibliography
Downey, Roger. "TOM ROBBINS: My Life and Work." Seattle Weekly.Seattle Weekly, 9 Oct. 2006. Web. 4 Jan. 2016. <http://www.seattleweekly.com/2000-05-03/news/tom-robbins-my-life-and-work/>.
Hoyser, Catherine E., and Lorena Laura Stookey. Tom Robbins: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood, 1997. Print.
"La Conner Throws a Quirky Parade to Celebrate Writer Tom Robbins's 91st Birthday." King5, 11 Sept. 2023, www.king5.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/evening/la-conner-parade-tom-robbins/281-ef8b4c99-6288-4ad2-9c1a-ee566872acdd. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.
Purdon, Liam O., and Beef Torrey, eds. Conversations with Tom Robbins. Jackson: U of Mississippi, 2010. Print.
Robbins, Tom. Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life. New York: Ecco, 2014. Print.
"Tom Robbins." Encycloaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016. Web. 04 Jan. 2016 <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Tom-Robbins>.
"Tom Robbins." Famous Authors. FamousAuthors.org, 2012. Web. 4 Jan. 2016. <http://www.famousauthors.org/tom-robbins>.