The Passing of John Robbins

He was a great one.

John Robbins died last week. I am not sure how intentional it was, but I did not put people in my pantheon unless I had interacted with them, but Robbins should be counted among them. Here is a memorial video. I went vegan in 1978, just to see what it was like, and only began eating eggs in 1980 for my athletic performance. Then I was forced into eating meat and drinking alcohol in my early career. I gave up the meat when I quit my job in 1986, but it took me until 2000 to finally quit drinking. If I had not quit drinking, I might not be here today. I have been a vegetarian who eats eggs, cheese, and butter occasionally. My eating motto has been “Nothing with a brain.” I don’t know if I will go vegan again. I try to eat eggs and dairy from happy chickens and cows, but I know that even in the best “organic” conditions, they are not treated that well. In the Fifth Epoch, I expect that vegetarianism and even veganism will be the norm, perhaps universally, but nobody will be coerced into it. The human conscience will reach new levels, in a world of abundance, and Robbins helped show us the way.

I wrote about Robbins in my medical-racket essay, cited his 1996 book, Reclaiming our Health, liberally in that essay, and called it arguably the most important book that people could read on how to be healthy. When I became embroiled in the vegetarian controversy, I read his astute writings on the subject (which have largely disappeared from the Internet, alas). His voice was vitally important.

Robbins got polio in the peak year of 1952, almost certainly from DDT, and the complications of polio killed him more than 70 years later. He was supposed to take over his father’s ice-cream empire, but he turned his back on Baskin-Robbins to take his path. Who gives up wealth and power like that?

Robbins lost most of his money in the Bernie Madoff scandal, but he was cheerful even then. There have not been many like Robbins on this planet. RIP, John.