Saver of the Back Bay memorialized

Paul Clinton

Friends and relatives remembered Frances Robinson as a warm, feisty

crusader for the Back Bay at a morning memorial service for the

environmentalist, who, along with her husband, is largely credited with

saving the wetland area that has become Newport Beach’s pride and joy.

Held at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, at the northern

edge of the Upper Newport Bay reserve Robinson helped make possible, the

service drew nearly 200 hearty souls on a drizzly Thursday.

The upbeat service followed Robinson’s death early Saturday morning of

congestive heart failure. She was 82.

“She was a crusader for some,” fellow activist Judith Rosener said.

“She was also a wife, a mother and a friend. . . . It’s very hard to say

goodbye to Fran because she encouraged us to do better things for our

community.”

Robinson, along with her husband, Frank, took on the Irvine Co. in

1969 by suing to stop a complex land transfer from Orange County that

would have resulted in the development of the Back Bay into condominiums

and a marina.

The Westcliff residents were labeled “radical kooks,” but eventually

prevailed over politicians who unblinkingly supported handing over the

land.

After years of litigation, a judge agreed with the Robinsons that the

Back Bay was part of a tidelands public trust. On Nov. 1, 1975, the

741-acre estuary was deemed an ecological reserve.

“She dedicated a tremendous amount of her life to the public benefit,”

Defend the Bay founder Bob Caustin said, as he gestured behind him toward

the bay. “This would have been a housing tract. And out there, that would

have been the equivalent of Marina del Rey.”

Supervisor Tom Wilson, whose district includes Newport Beach, also

made an appearance to praise Robinson for her efforts.

“I had the extreme pleasure of meeting these two people who were

dedicated to what you see behind you,” Wilson said. “This was one of

their dreams.”

Born to humble beginnings on July 20, 1918, Robinson attended Los

Angeles City College and UC Berkeley. Her activism took root in the 1960s

when she and her husband took their son, Jay, to Malibu, where they saw

signs warning them to stay off the beach.

In an extended tribute to his mother at the service, Jay Robinson,

wearing sunglasses to conceal the tears, said it saddened him to see her

health deteriorate over the last four years.

Jay Robinson, seated next to his father and his sister, Dana, said his

mother had lost much of her memory after a heart attack four years ago.

“She often asked if she had any friends or made a difference,” Jay

Robinson said. “Looking at you today and the Back Bay, I think her

questions in that regard have been answered.”