Cole, Rob (Frederick Robinson)

Biography

Frederick Robinson Cole was born in Dallas,Texas, on July 27, 1930. A self-described "loner", he suppressed his homosexuality until the September 1969, when, while on vacation in Los Angeles, he was introduced to the newly formed Metropolitan Community Church. The following year, after 15 years as an editor at the Dallas Times-Herald, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Advocate as news editor, the first news professional to work at the paper. During his tenure, Cole transformed the paper from a local Los Angeles bar rag to a respectable newspaper with national news coverage. Cole not only assigned and edited stories, but often wrote them, covering serious issues such as conditions for gays in jails, psychiatric abuse, and gays in religion.

Cole served on the Advocate until mid-1971, when homesickness and conflicts with the owners convinced him to resign and return to his former job in Dallas. He returned to the Advocate in September 1971, but again resigned at the end of December 1973, after renewed conflicts with the owners. After working on the short-lived GLBT newspaper Forum of Southern California, he returned to the Advocate for the third and final time, as managing editor, in September 1974. The Advocate was purchased by David Goodstein late that same year. Although rumor suggested that Goodstein intended to retain him as editor, Cole was fired in late December 1974, being replaced by John Preston. Early the next year, Goodstein moved the offices of the Advocate to the San Francisco Bay area and refocused the paper on national affairs, arts and entertainment, virtually eliminating local Los Angeles coverage. To fill in the void left by the departure of the Advocate, Cole founded the bi-weekly NewsWest, the first issue of which appeared in May 1975. NewsWest continued the tradition of the old Advocate, including many of the same columnists, writers, and stringers, and with the addition of Pat Rocco as primary photographer. However, Cole's relationship with fellow members of the board of the paper's parent company, Green Carnation Newspapers, soon became strained, and in October 1975 he was removed from the board; although he was retained as editor, his relationship with the board continued to deteriorate, and he left NewsWest shortly afterwards. (He continued to contribute occasional columns to the newspaper until it ceased publication in 1977.) In the following years Cole worked for other newspapers in Southern California before leaving journalism to work as a real estate appraiser. He remained active in the gay community, serving on the board of the Christopher Street West Association, of which he was a co-founder in 1970, for most of the last 37 years of his life.

He died at his home in North Hills, California, on June 30, 2007, after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease, complicated by pneumonia and a chronic back ailment.

Source: Obituary, in Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2007.

From the guide to the Rob Cole papers, 1950-2006, (bulk 1970-1985), (ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.)