Herb Robinson: Respected newspaper, TV journalist

Throughout his award-winning newspaper and television career, Herb Robinson was known not just for his grace and gentleness, but for the breadth and clarity of his work.

For a dozen years, beginning in 1977, he was editorial-page editor for The Seattle Times, writing hundreds of editorials and columns and overseeing a staff that helped determine the paper's editorial stances.

At KOMO-TV, where he worked from 1953 to 1965, Mr. Robinson was a news director, anchor and the host of a public-service show. A daily news program Mr. Robinson edited, "Deadline," received a Sylvania Television Award in 1956 for the country's outstanding local news and special-events program.

Mr. Robinson, 78, died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer.

"He was also an extremely gracious person," said Terry Tang, deputy technology editor at The New York Times whom Mr. Robinson hired in 1989 as an editorial writer for The Seattle Times.

"He sat through many, many political-candidate interviews, always calmly listening even when it was painfully clear the person running for office didn't know a fraction of what Herb knew about the issues at hand."

Bryan Johnson, senior correspondent for KOMO-TV news, recalled Mr. Robinson as a journalist "who could work for a newspaper or television — that's rare."

Television was a new medium when Mr. Robinson entered it, Johnson said, and viewers "wanted someone they could respect — whether it was Walter Cronkite or Herb Robinson."

"You needed someone who the audience could say, 'He knows what's going on.' Herb was one of those guys."

Despite his media recognition, Mr. Robinson never forgot the advice of one editor who cautioned him against "the swell-headedness that can come with many bylines and other media visibility." Even as a TV personality, the balding Mr. Robinson refused to wear a toupee, as other personalities might have, joking that "the damage was done."

In his many editorial columns for The Times on regional issues of the day — from the ferry system and the state lottery to mass transit and fishing rights — Mr. Robinson saw his role as that of presenting the facts, and then trusting readers.

Said Times Publisher Frank Blethen, "I used to tell Herb that his greatest strength was his columnists' ability to provide simple clarity to complex subjects. They tended not to be opinion pieces but rather explanatory pieces."

Born in Seattle on Nov. 22, 1924, Mr. Robinson was smitten with journalism at age 16 while attending Queen Anne High School. At the University of Washington, he was campus correspondent for The Times.

His college career was interrupted when he joined the Army in 1943, attending officer candidate school at Fort Riley, Kan., assigned to the cavalry. Mr. Robinson served as a combat platoon leader in Burma, leaving the service as a captain.

Mr. Robinson graduated from the UW with a journalism degree in 1949.

In 1973, Mr. Robinson was honored by the Washington State School Directors Association for improving public understanding of local education. In 1983, he was honored by the Municipal League for outstanding reporting of governmental news.

Among Mr. Robinson's interests were attending Husky football games, jazz and skiing. In the 1970s, he became friends with John Dimitriou, owner of Jazz Alley, who then ran another jazz club. The two became skiing buddies, going to the mountains last winter. "He had this perfect form," Dimitriou said.

Mindy Cameron, who succeeded Mr. Robinson as The Times' editorial-page editor before her retirement in 2001, said his skiing talents were a metaphor for his life.

"He was a beautiful, graceful downhill skier," she said. "He was like that in the way he dealt with people, too."

Mr. Robinson is survived by his wife, Magda Ashtok; three children from his first marriage, Michael Robinson of Anacortes, Mark Robinson of Denver, and Susan Daly of Everett; and a sister, Jean Stark of Orlando, Fla.

At Mr. Robinson's request, there will be no services.