Mary Judith Robinson

Mary Judith (Judy) Robinson passed away May 16, 2026. She was born April 1st, 1939, in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Ernest Kip Robinson, M. D. (1904-92) who served in World War II as chief surgeon on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, and Betty Clapp (1912-2000) of Wichita, Kansas. Judith was a 10th-generation descendant of colonial settlers of New York and New England and of pioneer settlers of the Midwest, whose lives she biographed. She was great-great-granddaughter of the first Episcopal Bishop of California, the Right Reverend William Ingraham Kip (1811-93). Her paternal great-grandfather David Hamilton Robinson (1836-95) was a co-founding professor of the University of Kansas (1866), and her maternal great-grandfather L. W. Clapp (1857-1934) was a founder of Wichita.

Robinson was author of 11 books including: The Hearsts - An American Dynasty (1991-92); "You're in Your Mother's Arms" - The Life & Legacy of Congressman Phil Burton (1994); Alan Cranston Senator from California - Making a ‘Dent in the World’ (2012); Noble Conspirator - Florence S. Mahoney and the Rise of the National Institutes of Health (2001); From Gold Rush to Millennium - 150 Years of the Episcopal Diocese of California,1849-2000 (2000); Gold Rush Bishop - William Ingraham Kip, First Episcopal Bishop of California and His Family (2017); an autobiography, Memoir of a Reluctant Debutante - Or, When in Danger, Breathe (2023).

Robinson was proud of the quality of her historical research and considered her works her legacies, citing Benjamin Franklin’s writing in his youth (1738), “If you would not be forgotten As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (1961, B.A., English, minor in Drama) after attending Mills College and The Barstow School in Kansas City from which she graduated (in 1957) as valedictorian. She performed in summer-stock theater in Kansas City and acted in the U.C. drama department’s senior play (1961). An adventurous life commenced after college with a year in Europe where she taught English in Paris (1961-62).

She began her writing career as a reporter for United Press International (1965-67) in the Portland, Maine, bureau at a time when men dominated journalism. Her first feature story was published by Associated Press Newsfeatures while she worked as a secretary in New York (“Why Men Drive Fast Cars,” reflecting a love of classic sports cars).

In Washington, D. C., she worked as a journalist for the National Journal. In 1971 she joined the staff of U. S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (Democrat of Wisconsin, Earth Day founder, 1970) where she worked for nine years as a legislative assistant on the Senate Labor & Public Welfare Committee. She was instrumental in influencing legislation affecting biomedical research, health policies, the National Health Service Corps and National Nurse Service Corps, prescription drug regulation, auto, tire and school-bus safety, and consumer issues. She was particularly proud of work on the National Institutes of Health’s research programs, food additives, food labeling, environmental protections, and helping craft the first medical-devices regulatory law. She worked in the House of Representatives for Rep. Dave Obey (D.-Wisconsin) on the Appropriations Committee (1989-91).

In 1979 she became an editorial writer for the San Francisco Examiner. Her first biography, The Hearsts - An American Dynasty, was published in 1991 (University of Delaware Press, Avon Books, 1992). She was for many years principal researcher at The Bancroft Library, U. C., Berkeley. She enjoyed public speaking and docenting. Her personal interests centered on historic preservation, and she was active in the Telegraph Hill Dwellers neighborhood organization. She delighted in her 1907 post-earthquake house and garden on Telegraph Hill, and saving the last shade tree on her block of Lombard Street. Her love of things antique included a fondness for manual typewriters, pencils, vinyl records, and an extensive jazz collection.

Family genealogical works included Patriots and Loyalists - An American Family from Colonial Times (2009) about ancestors including Roger Clapp, a first settler of Boston; Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, a Dutch settler of New Amsterdam whose family farm gave the area called “Kips’ Bay” its name; Ingrahams and Greenleafs of Massachusetts, one of whom married lexicographer Noah Webster; Lawrences of New York, among them Captain James Lawrence of “Don’t give up the ship!” fame. The Robinson Family in America covered lines who settled the Midwest.

Robinson was a member of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in California; Grace Episcopal Cathedral where she served as docent for many years; Roxburghe Club; S. F. Architectural Heritage; S. F. Historical Society; Westerners; National Trust for Historic Preservation; National Trust, U. K.; National Maritime Historical Society; Elizabeth Gaskell and Arnold Bennett Literary Societies, U.K. She was a student of English history and literature and traveled extensively in England.

Survivors include: Brother Marc Clapp Robinson (wife Holly, niece Harper, nephew Maitland Kip) of Greenwich, Connecticut; three nieces (Michelle, Stephanie, Kathleen) and two nephews (John Kip, Jr., and Jess Harper), children of her late brother John Kip Robinson; cousins Betsy Robinson Vander Velde of Shawnee, Kansas, and Carrie Clapp of Wichita, Kansas; cousins Charles G. Koch and William Ingraham Koch. She was grateful for the friendship and help of Cousin Betsy R. Vander Velde, friends and neighbors, especially Joanne and Richard Compean, Joe Garity, Peter Grace, Sarah Caine, Josephine Lucchesi, and Lynne Burwell.

Suggested donations are to: Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (165 Eighth Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103); Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street, San Francisco, CA., 94108). A service is planned for Grace Cathedral on June 17th at 1:00 pm.