Obituary: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins passed away at the grand old age of 99 in the Brookline, Mass., house where he was born, raised, and lived most of his life. He attended Brookline High School and graduated from Williams College with the class of 1949. He was preceded in death by his parents, Helen Evangeline Warren Robbins and Elliott Beebe Robbins; his elder brother Elliott Warren (Bobby) Robbins; and his nephew, Elliott Petrie Robbins.

Michael was a life-long adventurer. His journeys began with a fateful ride while hitchhiking, which led to his signing on for the summer of 1948 as an ordinary seaman on a tramp steamer. The voyage took him to pre-Castro Cuba where the crew packed a cargo of raw sugar and brought it to a Europe still recovering from World War II. Working in the galley of the Nortanda, Michael mastered the art of breaking an egg into a frying pan one-handed without breaking the yolk. (It was about the only culinary expertise he would admit to having). Thereafter, his kitchen exploits were strictly limited to boiling his daily porridge. Further travels ensued over the years – many trips to Europe, a long trek in the Himalayas (where he reached 20,000’), a hiking trip to Sikkim, and travels in Australia, South Africa, Saipan, the Philippines, Russia, and Finland.