This week’s edition of Intercigarview is with a psychiatrist and a story teller. I have know Robin from a distance on social media and in the course of discussion I saw him share his fondness for cigars and Mark Twain. I knew I had to interview him for this column.
This is Robin’s cigar story.
What was it about cigars that drew you to them?
I grew up near Hartford CT and we went to Mark Twain’s home often. Amazing home, and some say he built it to resemble a steamboat. My stepfather was born in 1880 and was a chauffeur all of his life. He spoke of seeing Mark Twain walking around Hartford when he was a child, and said he remembers one day when the passerby’s were all shocked to see Mark Twain tossing a huge pile of clothing out the front window and shouting. He did have a bit of a temper as his documented letters speak to (occasionally would swear about a bill or an issue with the gas company for example). My stepfather told me that he drove Mark Twain and his good friend of forty years Pastor Joe Twitchell around Elizabeth Park. I remember asking him how that was possible, since Mark Twain (who had some serious losses at the Hartford home), moved in 1891 when my stepdad was 11. He said that Mark Twain kept in touch with Pastor Twitchell until 1908, and when he would visit Mark Twain in Hartford, that was when he helped with driving (maybe horse driven?).
My interest in Mark Twain was thus born, as well as the inspiration from visiting the Hartford home, Nook Farm, (next to the ‘dream home’ of Harriet Beecher Stowe). And while living in Hartford, he wrote Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and other of his great works (although much of his writing he did in an octagonal ‘study’ in Elmira NY where he summered). I also visited Elmira and saw the famous study as well as his burial site. Now the study is on the grounds of Elmira College. I also spent summers in Branford CT and would walk to the Montowese Hotel (the ‘Queen of the Sound’) a famous summer hotel, where Mark Twain used to summer (he had his own large bathtub there and came regularly with friends and family).
I ended up going to school in St Louis, so I was able to many times visit Hannibal, MO as well, where he was born and where visitors can visit the famous cave where Tom and Becky visited in his book, and view the famous whitewashed fence. So you can see, my interest was rather intense, and continues. (I hung a picture of Mark Twain…Samuel Clemens… in our bathroom…my wife knew what my plans were; and sure enough when our first son was born, he was named Samuel).
My interest in cigars did not, interestingly, come from Dib (my stepdad). In fact he was a regular tobacco chewer (preferred Applejack plug chewing tobacco). He was told in 1918 by his doctor that if he chewed, he would be immune to the Spanish flu. He never got the flue, and never stopped after that (I, myself, never liked it).
What was your first experience with a cigar?
My first experience with cigars was interesting. I was doing construction during the summers in Hartford to pay for tuition, and the old Italian fellows would offer me crooked little stogies, called ‘stinkers’ or DeNobili’s. I kind of liked them, but one has to get used to them for sure. When I was in college in Hartford, as sophomore pledges in the fraternity, we were lined up and ‘forced to smoke ‘stinkers.’ Gradually, all the pledges got ill, and I amazed the brothers when I said, ‘can I have another?’ Cigars (good ones) began to interest me seriously when I would golf with friends in St Louis.
Do you have a favorite cigar memory?
My fondest memories of cigar events have always been at my childrens’ weddings. I always bring a large number of them, and it’s become a sort of tradition to leave the reception, and gather to celebrate with ‘the guys.’ I really can’t choose one over the other.
How many cigars do you enjoy in a week?
I have to say that, unlike Mark Twain, who as you know smoked a large number of cigars/day and was proud he smoked crappy ones, I like good cigars, so I limit the number to about three/week. I have a long commute, and sometimes I enjoy the ride more with a good cigar and a good book on the audio. (Also a good time to have a cigar, since my wife is not enamored of them!) Nonetheless, I find them very tasty of course, and extremely relaxing (I like to sit in my barn workshop sometimes and kind of go to another ‘place.’)
What is your favorite cigar size?
I generally like a medium length, but large ring size (I find not only do they last longer but they are cooler in temp). I like a mild cigar (despite my Denobili experience); so a mellow-bodied blend out of the Dominican Republic. I occasionally splurge and get some Casa Blancas.
What advice would you give to someone just getting into cigars?
I guess my advice to a new cigar smoker would be to not start out with ‘cheapos;’ I’ve known many folks who thought they’d try a cigar and bought those odd cigars in the gas stations. Most all decide to (predictably) not try again. Go to a good cigar store and ask advice; the dealers, based on an interview with studied questions, will generally pick out a brand that will be enjoyable.
Anything else you would like to share?
My profession is psychiatry. And as you know, one of Sigmund Freud’s most famous photos emphasizes his cigar (another 10-17 a day smoker like Mark Twain). I teach as well, and I have to end with a funny cigar story that I repeat in my frequent lecture ‘The Power of Laughter.” During the worst part of the second world war, Winston Churchill, who certainly experienced considerable stress (and was as you know a big cigar lover), and who once said: ‘You cannot deal with the most serious things in the world unless you also understand and can enjoy the most amusing,” was a bit of a joker.
Rumor has it that in the midst of tense meetings with heads of state during the war, he would insert a straightened-out paper clip in his cigar, and amuse himself, and them, as they sat in amazement in the presence of a 7-inch ash at the end of his cigar. Now there’s a man who knew how to use humor AND a good cigar for stress release, and for communication!
Thank you Robin for sharing your cigar story!
Robin on the left pictured with his friend, a 2 Star General and Vietnam Vet.
