FOUND ON THE NET-Everyone plays different roles in life, and some play out at higher levels than others. But Charles W. “Chuck” Robinson, who died at his Santa Fe home Tuesday at age 94, lived every aspect of life to the highest possible potential, every moment of every day.
In fact, if anyone fit the metaphor of burning the candle at both ends, it was Robinson — though in his case, the extra effort paid off for more than eight decades in increased vibrancy.
As husband, father, grandfather, international businessman, diplomat and marine designer — and with his wife of 57 years, Mara, a quiet but generous supporter of countless community causes — Robinson consistently exhibited insight, intellect and unquenchable interest in what makes the world and people work.
Even when increasing pulmonary infirmity slowed him down physically, Robinson’s mind remained as lucid and open as ever, and his delight in analyzing a situation or tackling a problem remained unclouded. His wry sense of humor stayed with him to the end, as did his happy ability to make touching toasts at dinner parties.
Robinson was never one to take the easy road, and his many successful business ventures over the years generally displayed audaciousness over caution. As he observed in a privately printed 2005 memoir, “To implement creative ideas, it’s important to take chances, and that demands courage and willingness to risk being wrong. Management by self-induced crisis involves taking leaps into the unknown — sailing uncharted seas.” In another context, he spoke of his “one great advantage: I was never handicapped by experience. Not knowing how things ‘had always been done’ freed me to move in new directions.”
Charles Wesley Robinson was born in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 7, 1919. He left home at 17, and after an unsuccessful experiment in ranching, he attended the University of California at Berkeley and earned a cum laude degree in international economics.
As a young naval engineer in World War II, he was assigned to the USS Tuscaloosa, a heavy cruiser, which escorted shipping on the perilous Murmansk, Russia, supply run. After close to three years in that position, he served under fire in the ship during the D-Day landing in France. Later naval assignments were at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the Pacific Theater, where his vessel was regularly attacked by kamikaze fighters over a three-month period.
Following his military service, Robinson earned a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and then began his wide-ranging business career. He worked for a dairy, then as a consultant and then for a construction company, which sent him to Panama to develop a timber operation.
In 1950, he founded the Marcona Mining Co., which mined iron ore in Peru and shipped it around the world, especially to Japan and Saudi Arabia. This led to shipbuilding, with increasing emphasis on larger and larger vessels, as well as those that could handle both ore and oil.
In 1961, Robinson spearheaded the building of the first Panamax, the largest vessel to traverse the Panama Canal. He also was closely involved with port development in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Australia, India and Chile. In this work, he interacted with many governmental agencies and officials, establishing a network that proved valuable during his ensuing diplomatic career.
In 1974, Robinson was appointed Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs during the Gerald Ford administration; and in 1976, he became U.S. deputy secretary of state under Henry Kissinger. Among his accomplishments was negotiating the U.S.-Soviet Grain Agreement at the request of President Ford. He also was involved in overseeing the group that developed the concept that became the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Among Robinson’s most beloved marine design projects was the M-Ship concept — a boat designed to reduce bow waves and ameliorate erosion in the canals of Venice, Italy. Named Mangia Onda, or “wave eater,” the design proved very successful, only to run afoul of Venice’s city administration.
Undaunted, Robinson continued development of the design, applying it to a littoral craft known as the M80 Stiletto — ideal for military use in coastal waters and to defer drug traffic and terrorist activities along shorelines. He loved to discuss its suitability for deployment, its cheapness compared to competing designs, and his hopes of its eventual full adoption by the U.S. military. It was lauded by Time magazine as the outstanding 2006 invention for the armed forces. Robinson also devoted himself to improved designs for sailboats, especially applicable to competition yacht racing. To pursue both interests, he set up two companies in San Diego.
Robinson was a longtime member of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where he endowed a chair devoted to studying and designing U.S. policy for improving relations with Latin America. He arranged major financing for Nike in 1971, averting a company bankruptcy, and was a member of the board of directors from 1977 through 2004. In Santa Fe, as well as maintaining a private office, he was involved in the development of Las Lagunitas, in La Cienega.
With his wife, Robinson was a careful but consistent supporter of many area nonprofit organizations including Performance Santa Fe, The Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, New Mexico School for the Arts, NDI New Mexico, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and St. John’s College, among many others. He preferred staying out of the limelight, however, as much as possible. What was important to him was that any organization he supported be well-run, energetic, true to its mission and serve the community wholeheartedly.
Compact and wiry, Robinson was an avid sportsman all his life, playing ferocious tennis, hiking and running well into his late 80s. One of his favorite activities in Venice, where he and his wife maintained a home for many years, was to tirelessly explore the city’s watersides, bridges and plazas at a fast clip.
When illness curtailed his own physical activity, he remained a resolute follower of professional sports, from which he gained great pleasure. A broadcast basketball or football game were among the few things that would lead him to miss one of the many performing arts events he and his wife regularly attended.
Besides his wife, Robinson is survived by three daughters, Heather Robinson, Wendy Robinson and Lisa Robinson Spader; grandchildren Paige, Bryce, Patrick, Oliver, Brenna and Sierra; and sons-in-law Joseph McDermott and Matt Spader.