‘Arizona Republic’ Columnist Robert Robb

And the Writing Is Easy

Robert Robb has been an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic since July 1999. He writes three times a week on public policy and politics. Before participating in a panel on Barry Goldwater and libertarian politics today, he explained why being a columnist is the right job for him, why he appreciates inertia, and his ideal Sunday morning in the Zócalo green room.

Q:

What keeps you up at night?


A:

Nothing. [Laughs.]


Q:

What’s the ugliest piece of furniture you own?


A:

Probably my easy chair.


Q:

What’s your drink of choice?


A:

Iced tea.


Q:

What profession would you practice in your next life?


A:

Golf hustler.


Q:

What’s the hardest thing about being a columnist?


A:

If you have a knack for it; and have a wide interest in a variety of political events and developments; and don’t find the writing a burden, it’s really an incredibly pleasant way to earn a living. I think for most people, the challenge is in finding the topics and actually doing the writing. I don’t find those a burden.


Q:

How are you different from who you were 10 years ago?


A:

I think as you get older, your tendency before you become a curmudgeon is to be more appreciative of the power of inertia, and how difficult it is to change the way things are, and the way people are. And so you become more accepting.


Q:

What was your worst subject in school?


A:

Art. And now I’m married to an artist and an art teacher.


Q:

If you could be any animal, which would you be?


A:

I guess a bird of some sort. Flying would seem pretty neat.


Q:

What does your ideal Sunday morning look like?


A:

I actually usually have my ideal Sunday morning. Get up, go to church, and then go to the Tee Pee in Phoenix for huevos rancheros. That’s our Sunday morning ritual, and I like it a lot.