Robert Yoakum

LAKEVILLE — Robert Yoakum, 94, best known for his twice-weekly humor column that appeared in 55 newspapers in the U.S. and overseas, died at his home in Lakeville on Oct. 2, 2016.

He was the husband of Alice (Blum) Yoakum.

He was born on March 8, 1922, in Phoenix, Ariz., the only son of Eunice (Abbot) and Guy deLaye Yoakum, and grew up in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (50 miles north of the home of the Green Bay Packers), where his father was the Congregational minister.

His education at Northwestern University was interrupted by World War II. Serving as a correspondent with the 19th Tactical Air Command, he was awarded five battle stars and a Bronze Star. 

After the war he completed his formal education at the University of Chicago.

Yoakum’s career as a journalist began in college with a column called, “On the Curve,” which gave grades to readers. 

It continued after the war and university when he took off for Europe to write freelance articles for publication in American papers. When his savings ran out and his typewriter was destroyed by juvenile delinquents, he found work as a reporter with the Paris bureau of the Reuters news service, and subsequently with the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune.

As city editor of the Tribune, he covered local stories and wrote a column with Art Buchwald called “Mostly About People.”

In what he referred to as his “world-saving phase,” Yoakum left the Trib to became deputy secretary general of the World Veterans Federation, at that time the fourth largest non-governmental organization accredited to the United Nations. Based in Paris, the WVF’s theme was “Peace With Freedom.” It brought together more than 20 million war veterans in 145 organizations from 38 countries, including ancient enemies like Egypt and Israel, to work with the United Nations on various programs for veterans, especially physical rehabilitation and land settlement. In that capacity he traveled around the world visiting veterans organizations and heads of state.

Returning to the U.S. in1955, he tried unsuccessfully to launch a news magazine based on signed articles and humor at a time when, he said, “existing news magazines were anonymous and often stuffy, and displayed a conservative slant.”

This quixotic, underfinanced venture was abandoned when Philip Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, bought Newsweek. 

In the late summer of 1960 Yoakum joined John F. Kennedy’s speechwriting team, an exciting period that stimulated his interest in political reporting and political humor. 

Yoakum’s syndicated humor column, “Another Look,” was begun in 1970 with the encouragement of Sir Harold Evans, then editor of The Sunday Times of London, who wrote, “It is often said that humor will not travel across national frontiers, but your blend of perception and wit certainly appeals over here.”

In addition to his column, Yoakum wrote several hundred magazine articles and op-ed pieces for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including The New Republic, The New York Times, Newsday, USA Today, Vanity Fair, The Humanist, Columbia Journalism Review, The Sunday Times of London and  Penthouse.

In 1994, he wrote an article for Modern Maturity (now the AARP magazine) describing Restless Legs Syndrome, a condition he had suffered from — without knowing what it was called or how to relieve the overwhelming discomfort it brought on.

The response to his article was so strong that it led to him write a book, published in 2006, called “Restless Legs Syndrome — Relief and Hope for Sleepless Victims of a Hidden Epidemic.” He also was a founding member of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation. 

The Yoakums moved to their home in Lakeville on Jan. 1, 1962, and have lived there ever since, except for one year when the family stayed in London.

In addition to Alice, his wife of 63 years, he is survived by his two daughters, Ellen Marcher of the Cayman Islands and Elizabeth Yoakum of Sarasota, Fla.; and his grandson, James Marcher, a student at the Millbrook School. 

He was predeceased by his son, Robert E. B. Yoakum, in 1997.

Gifts in his memory may be contributed to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union or the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Assoc., 30 Salmon Kill Road, Salisbury 06068.

A memorial tennis match will be held in his honor at a later date. 

The Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon has charge of the arrangements.