{{Short description|American publisher}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Bob Rodale | birth_name = Robert David Rodale | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|3|27}} | birth_place =New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|9|20|1930|3|27}} | death_place =Moscow, Soviet Union (present-day Russia) | known_for =Organic gardening<br />Valley Preferred Cycling Center | spouse = {{marriage|Ardath Harter|1951}} | children =5, including Maria<ref name="Publisher killed in Moscow crash,">[https://apnews.com/article/f1667bcf636232187a17a5e06929b0d9 Publisher killed in Moscow crash,"] Associated Press, September 21, 1990</ref><ref name="obit">{{cite news|last1=Fowler|first1=Glenn|title=Robert Rodale, 60, Dies in Crash; Publisher Backed Organic Farms|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/21/obituaries/robert-rodale-60-dies-in-crash-publisher-backed-organic-farms.html|accessdate=23 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=September 21, 1990}}</ref> | parents = J. I. Rodale<br/> Anna Andrews Rodale }}
'''Robert David Rodale (Cohen)''' (March 27, 1930 – September 20, 1990) was an American publisher who was president and chief executive officer of Rodale, Inc., a company founded in 1930 by his father J. I. Rodale in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.<ref name="Sports Reference">{{cite web|last = Gjerde|first = Arild|author2 = Jeroen Heijmans|author3= Bill Mallon|author4= Hilary Evans|title = Robert Rodale Biography and Olympic Results|work = Olympics|publisher = Sports Reference.com|date = June 2012|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/robert-rodale-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181114182141/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/robert-rodale-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2018-11-14|accessdate = 2012-07-10}}</ref>
Rodale was an adherent of organic farming, regenerative agriculture, and gardening and a publisher focused on health and wellness lifestyle magazines and books.<ref name="OH">[https://web.archive.org/web/20091010081525/http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=3&tax_subject=570&topic_id=2311&level3_id=6703&placement_default=0 Jane Potter Gates, Robert Rodale, National Agricultural Library (U.S.) and the United States Department of Agriculture Video and Teleconference Division. (1989). "Oral history interview with Mr. Robert Rodale"]. Beltsville, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Video and Teleconference Division. Retrieved January 2, 2009.</ref><ref name="obit"/> Rodale was the founder of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome.<ref name="USBHF" />
==Early life and education== Rodale was born in Manhattan, New York City, on March 27, 1930 to J. I. Rodale and Anna Andrews Rodale. The family moved to Emmaus, Pennsylvania shortly after Robert's birth when J. I. and his brother Joseph established an electrical manufacturing company there. He had two sisters, Nina and Ruth.<ref name="nina">"[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E0D91039E231A25755C0A9679C946692D6CF Nina Rodale Engaged. She Will Be Wed in April to Robert Hale Horstman]" (Sunday, January 6, 1957). New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2009.</ref><ref name="jiobit">"[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CE4D9163EEF34BC4053DFB066838A669EDE J. I. Rodale Dead. Organic Farmer. Espoused the Avoidance of Chemical Fertilizers.]" (Tuesday, June 8, 1971). New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2009.</ref>
Robert learned the basics of farming and gardening while growing up on the family farm in Emmaus. He attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1951, studying English and journalism.<ref name="OH" /> In the 1970s, Robert Rodale played a major role in getting the Pennsylvania state government's attention through his Cornucopia Project, which stimulated the publication of state-level analyses of how readily local demand could be met by local supply. At a time of increasing energy prices, a new emphasis on eating local became his platform for a more sustainable way of engaging with his community.<ref>Joan Gussow's article "But What Can I Eat In March" from the newspaper Natural Farmer Spring 1993</ref>
==Career== Robert joined his father at Rodale Press in 1951 as an editor. His first assignment was to read galley proofs for ''The Organic Farmer'', a precursor to ''Organic Gardening'' and ''New Farm'' magazines. He worked alongside his father as president of Rodale Press until his father's death in 1971 during a television interview with Dick Cavett.<ref name="jiobit" /> Robert was the U.S. representative at the November 5, 1972 founding of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (now IFOAM-Organics International) in Versailles, France.<ref>{{cite journal| last1 = Paull| first1 = John| year = 2010| title = From France to the World: The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)| journal = Journal of Social Research & Policy| volume = 1| issue = 2| pages = 93–102| url = http://orgprints.org/18808/1/Paull2010IfoamJSRP.pdf}}</ref>
Rodale was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Rodale Press, which grew to exceed $200 million in revenue under his management.<ref name="Publisher killed in Moscow crash,">{{Cite news |date=21 September 1990 |title=Publisher Killed in Moscow Crash |url=https://apnews.com/article/f1667bcf636232187a17a5e06929b0d9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504092631/https://apnews.com/article/f1667bcf636232187a17a5e06929b0d9 |archive-date=2022-05-04 |access-date= |work=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{cite news|last1=Fowler|first1=Glenn|title=Robert Rodale, 60, Dies in Crash; Publisher Backed Organic Farms|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/21/obituaries/robert-rodale-60-dies-in-crash-publisher-backed-organic-farms.html|accessdate=23 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=September 21, 1990}}</ref>
==Sports== Rodale competed in the 1968 Olympics in skeet shooting<ref name="USBHF"/> and was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1991.<ref name="USBHF">{{cite web|url=http://www.usbhof.org/inductee-by-year/21-robert-rodale|website=United States Bicycling Hall of Fame|title=Robert Rodale|accessdate=January 5, 2009}}</ref>
==Personal life== Rodale met his wife, Ardath Harter, at a square dance party held at her family home. His father "suggested" her as a wife for Robert after dancing with her himself. Robert and Ardath married in June 1951 after a short courtship. The couple had five children,<ref name="ardath">[http://www.rodale.com/1,,1-0-1152,00.html Ardath Rodale: Rodale Board Member and Chief Inspiration Officer of Rodale Inc.] Retrieved January 2, 2009.</ref> several of whom became involved in the family-run Rodale Press and Rodale Institute.<ref name="OH" />
==Death== On September 20, 1990, Rodale was killed in an auto accident in Moscow while in the Soviet Union to establish a Russian language edition of ''The New Farmer'', one of several Rodale Press publications devoted to chemical-free farming. Yevgeni Gringaut, the Russian publisher of the magazine, and Rodale's interpreter were also killed in the crash. The three were driving to Moscow Airport when their van was hit head-on by a swerving bus.<ref name="Publisher killed in Moscow crash,">[https://apnews.com/article/f1667bcf636232187a17a5e06929b0d9 Publisher killed in Moscow crash,"] Associated Press, September 21, 1990</ref><ref name="obit">{{cite news|last1=Fowler|first1=Glenn|title=Robert Rodale, 60, Dies in Crash; Publisher Backed Organic Farms|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/21/obituaries/robert-rodale-60-dies-in-crash-publisher-backed-organic-farms.html|accessdate=23 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=September 21, 1990}}</ref> Rodale's wife Ardath died in 2009 at 81.
==Publications== * {{cite book|last1=Rodale|first1=Robert|title=Sane Living in a Mad World: A Guide to the Organic Way of Life|url=https://archive.org/details/sanelivinginmadw00roda|url-access=registration|date=September 1972|publisher=Rodale Press|isbn=0878570101|edition=1st}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodale, Robert}} Category:1930 births Category:1990 deaths Category:American male sport shooters Category:Farmers from Pennsylvania Category:Olympic shooters for the United States Category:Organic farmers Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in shooting Category:People from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Category:Road incident deaths in the Soviet Union Category:Rodale, Inc. Category:Shooters at the 1967 Pan American Games Category:Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century farmers Category:20th-century American publishers (people)