John S. Robinson photograph collection, circa 1870-1999

John Robinson (1921-2003) was a freelance author and attorney from Olympia, Washington, who spent much of his working and social life in the Seattle area. Robinson grew up in Seattle, graduating from Garfield High School in 1938. He attended Stanford University and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Washington. During World War II he translated Japanese for the Navy. He graduated from Yale University Law School in 1949.

Although he worked for law firms and for the State Attorney General's office, mainly in Seattle, his prime interest was in writing. He researched and wrote articles for travel and Seattle and regional magazines, including the Argus, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Pacific Search, Northwest Arts, and Seattle Weekly. He traveled extensively in Africa in the early 1960s and was expelled from South Africa. He wrote a long manuscript about it but failed to get it published because of his reluctance to edit it. A lifelong bachelor, Robinson lived in his parents' Olympia home with his mother and then alone after her death. He died in Olympia in March 2003.