Robin Palmer

Robin Palmer (born Richard Robert Palmer; April 7, 1930 – August 20, 2010) was an American political activist, television host and producer, and convicted member of the Weather Underground.

Biography Robin Palmer was born in Harlem on April 7, 1930, to palaeontologist Katherine Van Winkle Palmer and educationalist Ephraim Laurence Palmer, both of whom worked as college professors. Born to politically conservative parents, Robin's father was a supporter of anti-Communist Senator Joseph McCarthy, and their political differences caused a rift to grow between them.

Robin's older brother Laurence, also known as "Punky", contracted a Streptococcus infection at the age of 4, leaving him with severe arthritis until his early death at age 17.

Robin worked as a tree surgeon for most of his life, but also worked for 12 years as a deep sea diver for International Underwater Contractors. He worked as a high school English teacher in Harlem for 6 years, but lost his teaching license after it was discovered that he had simultaneously been moonlighting in pornography; a turn of events covered at the time by Playboy magazine. In the early 1960s he was briefly married to singer Arlene Corwin (born Arlene Nover) whom he had met through Teddy Charles, until they separated four months later.

Political activism In October 1967 Palmer participated in the March on the Pentagon which ended in a riot outside the building. It was here that he became acquainted with Abbie Hoffman who would later lead the Youth International Party, also known as the "Yippies". Palmer was arrested on a felony charge of assaulting a U.S. marshal, and anti-war activist Dr. Benjamin Spock helped bail Palmer out of jail. An image of Palmer being beaten by police on the steps outside the Pentagon was featured on the front page of the Washington Post.

Palmer would also be involved in the 1968 Columbia University protests, where he participated in the takeover of administrative buildings by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and where he began to form a close relationship with Sam Melville.

In November 1968, Palmer and his then-girlfriend Sharon Krebs disrupted a Humphrey-Muskie campaign rally by stripping nude and holding up a severed pig's head; a signature move of the radical group known as "the Crazies", whose members were often associated with the Youth International Party.

During the Vietnam War, Palmer was a member of Veterans and Reservists Against The War. He had trained as a paratrooper in the early 1950s, but when called to serve in the Korean War he became one of a handful of conscientious objectors.

Palmer began his prison sentence at Attica Correctional Facility shortly before the 1971 Attica Uprising, during which Sam Melville was killed, Palmer claiming that he had died in his arms.

On August 28, 2000, an $8 million settlement was awarded to survivors of the Attica Prison uprising, of which Palmer received $7,500 which he then donated to Sam Melville's son Joshua. His wife Mimi was born in Luzon in the Philippines and moved to the United States in 1965 at the age of 17. She served as the first female President of the Ithaca Kiwanis, and as Charter President of Cayuga Kiwanis.