Gary DeBardi (DeBardi)

Mr. Robinson left a important, indelible influence on me.  He was dedicated and inspired. I think he got  the most out of us.  The last time I saw him was at Jim Vaughn's funeral -- too long ago.  Ken, thanks for the post and including the date and time of the memorial service. 

-- Gary

Robert Haar

Mr. Robinson had a strong influence on my life and learnings.  We shared the love of mathematics and that passion shaped my path through life. He was a terrific teacher and I am sorry to hear of his passing.  He contacted me a few years ago and we shared some thoughts.

- Robert (aka Bob)

Shirley Canfield (O'Mara)

I didn't have any classes with Mr. Robinson. But my sister, Janice, did. I'll always remember her telling me about the bake sale and Mr. Robinson's 'experiment'. They sold cookies. The pricing read, "10 cents each or 2 for a quarter". I think quite a few fell for it. I think about that every now and then. It amuses me. I guess he had an impact on me, too! Rest in peace, Mr. Robinson.

Linna Carlsen

I too thought Harry Robinson was one of the best teachers I ever had.  With his warm and engaging personality he made math intriguing and accessible. I felt he really encouraged us to join in his enthusiasm for math.  I looked forward to his class every day.  In comparison, anyone remember Mr. Warnecke (sp?) from Lynnwood Jr High?

Kenneth Jennings

It was great to see Gary, Bob, and Linna comenting on the great influence that Mr Robinson had on us.  If Don Henderson and Jim Vaughn were with us, we'd have most of our small calculus class.  John Roberts was in that class.  Anyone else? I visited Harry several times and each time he said that we were a "special class" and that he remembered us better than any other. 

For those of you who remember me (or watch my son on Jeopardy), I started out as an EE major then insto Asian Studies/Languages (Korean and Chinese) then into law.  I combined those three interests by practicing high-tech law law in Asia for many years.  When I joined forces with my friend that was lead patent counsel for Novell, I found myself back in the world of mathmatics, working with complex algorithms relating to data compression, cryptography & steganography and - even more often - on transformations for partially ordered sets (AI use cases).  Every time I started to learn a new cutting edge software hack that depended on abstruse math, I took comfort in the fact that Harry Robinson thought we were a special class and were up to the the task.

James Lang (Lang)

If memory serves, I had a physics class with Mr. Robinson. I remember doing an activity involving concave and convex mirrors. It was a collabrative effort between Jim Vaughn, George Heyworth, and myself. It was quite an  interesting project.   For some reason I kept the original document which I wrote. It's the only work from high school I kept.

Michael Hilton (Teacher)

Harry was a tip-top math teacher and -- more importantly -- a tip-top human being. I had the privilege of teaching with him for over thirty years starting at Lynnwood Junior High in 1959.  We had breakfast together just a few weeks ago before his diagnosis and death,  The comments that several of his students have made about him are well deserved.  I'll miss the times I had with Harry.

Pat Echelbarger (MHS '66)

I remember the big earthquake we had when I was a sophomore, Spring of 64???.  I was in Mr. Robinson's Geometry class and he was at the board trying to get us boneheads through the subject matter when the black steel beams in the ceiling started going back and forth and we watched the ground outside roll like waves on the sound.  Mr. Robinson froze at the front of the class and watched.  I had gotten up out of my seat to flee . . . when it was over, I'm standing up and Mr. Robinson says, calmly, "Ech, where were you going?"  We all laughed and tried to sort out what had just happened.  Mr. Robinson said, "we have just had an earthquake, now let's get on with geometry!"

Pat Echelbarger (MHS '66)

I remember the big earthquake we had when I was a sophomore, Spring of 64???.  I was in Mr. Robinson's Geometry class and he was at the board trying to get us boneheads through the subject matter when the black steel beams in the ceiling started going back and forth and we watched the ground outside roll like waves on the sound.  Mr. Robinson froze at the front of the class and watched.  I had gotten up out of my seat to flee . . . when it was over, I'm standing up and Mr. Robinson says, calmly, "Ech, where were you going?"  We all laughed and tried to sort out what had just happened.  Mr. Robinson said, "we have just had an earthquake, now let's get on with geometry!"