Robert David Rodale (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 Jerome Irving Rodale (; August 16, 1898 – June 8, 1971) was a publisher, editor, and author who founded Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and The Rodale Institute, formerly the Soil Health Foundation. Rodale was an early advocate of sustai ...

Emmaus, Pennsylvania Emmaus ( ) is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th largest metropolitan area in t ...

. Rodale was an adherent of

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, ...

, and

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, frui ...

and a publisher focused on health and wellness lifestyle magazines and books.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 The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Located ...

; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Video and Teleconference Division. Retrieved January 2, 2009. Rodale was the founder of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome.

Early life and education

Rodale was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 1930 to

and Anna Andrews Rodale. The family moved to

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.Nina Rodale Engaged. She Will Be Wed in April to Robert Hale Horstman
(Sunday, January 6, 1957).

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. Retrieved January 2, 2009.J. I. Rodale Dead. Organic Farmer. Espoused the Avoidance of Chemical Fertilizers.
(Tuesday, June 8, 1971). New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2009. Robert learned the basics of farming and gardening while growing up on the family farm in Emmaus. He attended

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

from 1947 to 1951, studying English and journalism. 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.

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,Ardath Rodale: Rodale Board Member and Chief Inspiration Officer of Rodale Inc.
Retrieved January 2, 2009. several of whom became involved in the family-run Rodale Press and

Rodale Institute Rodale Institute is a non-profit organization that supports research into organic farming. It was founded in Emmaus, Pennsylvania in 1947 by J. I. Rodale, an organic living entrepreneur. After J.I. Rodale died in 1971, his son Robert Rodale purc ...

Sports

Rodale competed in the 1968 Olympics in skeet shooting and was inducted into the

United States Bicycling Hall of Fame The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private 501c3 non-profit organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling. The organization was founded in 1986 in Somerville, New Jersey and has inducte ...

in 1991.

Career

Robert joined his father at Rodale Press in 1951 as an editor. His first assignment was to read

galley proofs In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tra ...

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. Robert was the U.S. representative at the November 5, 1972 founding of the

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM - Organics International) is the worldwide umbrella organization for the organic agriculture movement, which represents close to 800 affiliates in 117 countries. It declares i ...

(now IFOAM-Organics International) at

Versailles, France Versailles () is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the Fren ...

. 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.Publisher killed in Moscow crash,"
Associated Press, September 21, 1990

Death

On September 20, 1990, Rodale was killed in an auto accident in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

while in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to establish a Russian language edition of ''The New Farmer'', one of several Rodale Press publications devoted to chemical-free farming. Also killed in the accident were the Russian publisher of the magazine and Rodale's interpreter.Publisher killed in Moscow crash,"
Associated Press, September 21, 1990 Rodale's wife Ardath died in 2009 at 81.

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodale, Robert 1930 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American male sport shooters American publishers (people) Farmers from Pennsylvania Olympic shooters of the United States Organic farmers Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in shooting People from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Road incident deaths in the Soviet Union Rodale, Inc. Shooters at the 1967 Pan American Games Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics