Episode 525: The Death of Joan Robinson Hill- Part 1

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How are you?

I'm good, I'm looking at snacking cheeses.

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Oh, I could take Brie or leave Brie.

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I might leave it if it hurt my feelings.

It could hurt my feelings, but I would still stay, I would still stay.

This has been cheese with alayna and ash.

I love it, I like that. We both put each other first. I was just going to say, I like that.

That was nice of us.

Good job, I like that a lot, I like that all right. Well, I have a case today.

You're like, I don't know how to segue into this, though.

I don't know how to segue because this isn't really here. We are. Really sad one and it's a really confusing one. I'm going to go ahead and tell you at the top of this that nobody's really ever convicted for one of the deaths that we're going to talk about.

Wow.

Yes, we're going to be talking about Joan Robinson Hill and John Hill, but we're going to start with Joan Joan Olive Robinson. She was said to be born on February 6th, 1931. I say, said to be because her birth certificate was lost at some point, actually, and there's no record of her birth that exists as far as anybody knows. Wow.

You love an oil tycoon.

Or, like, maybe not.

Maybe not, but you are interested in their stories.

It's because rich, and I love a rich oil story.

You love a Dallas kind of story.

Oh, yes, you know, yes, very like whoa.

Very whoa, very flashy.

Very shocking, very that objectives, those are them. So, Ash Robinson, he was a classic Texas oil man.

That were interesting, yeah.

But despite his hard exterior, he absolutely adored his wife and his new daughter.

Well, that's good. Yeah, that's all we can ask.

He loved his family. I don't know if I really want to know anything else about his personal views, but he loved his family.

Honestly, the most important part, you love your family, you're taking care of them, that's good, yeah.

Exactly, and this was kind of during a time where most dads were, you know, pretty hands-off. And left the baby's needs mostly to the mother or the woman in their life. But Ash was not about that life. He insisted on tending to the new baby's needs, repairing her formula, changing diapers. When she was old enough to take on trips, he would bring little Joan around with him to check on his oil wells at the time.

That's really cute.

Yeah, and as she grew, there was nothing Ash would not do or give to his daughter. do for or give to his daughter, author Thomas Thompson wrote. Should a minor scratch appear on her arm, Ash would summon a specialist and, if necessary, a medical staff.

She was the apple of his eye, precious cargo. Very much so.

Love that. When Joan was four years old, her father hired a chauffeur. Quote. Chiefly because he enjoyed going on rides with his daughter and did not want to divide his attention between her and the road.

Wow, that's really precious.

That's some dad shit right there.

That's some oil tycoon shit right there.

I was going to say, that's not just like, typical dad, shit, that's oil tycoon.

That's really rich, dad shit, but like, very adorable.

Yeah, it's kind of like, hot girl shit, adjacent.

Yeah, there you go.

Now, it was on one of those drives that Joan got her first glimpse of the animal. That would play a very, very important role in her future, Ash would later recall. I remember well exactly what happened. As the car passed a field full of horses, Joanie commenced to hollering that she wanted to ride those ponies. That was the beginning.

She became a horse gal.

At just four years old, where, you know, that's an age where, like, a lot of kids would be pretty intimidated by a giant fucking horse.

For sure.

And, you know, just like straight up scared, not Joan, she became completely obsessed. Within a few weeks. Ash had purchased her an older horse that she learned to ride on and, of course, learned the responsibilities of owning an animal in general. Yeah, within a year. So, when she was five years old, she was riding in competitions and winning ribbons alongside riders that were twice her age or older.

She loved it.

As she entered high school, that love of horses was continually rivaled only by the love of her father. And when she graduated and enrolled at Stevens College in Boone County, Ash and Rhea Robinson actually leased a suite of rooms at a hotel across the street from the campus. So that they wouldn't have to be apart from their daughter. Wow, which, you know, I think that it's lovely that they loved their daughter so much.

Well, it was out of love, obviously.

It was out of love, but I definitely think it was a little overboard.

Yeah, I mean, you do need to. I mean, I can't imagine because my kids are so young that I'm like, I can't fathom being apart from them for any length of time.

Like, you gotta let them spread their wings.

But I know at some point you gotta let them, like, be a little independent, but that's.

Tough, yeah.

And at least, you know, it was out of love.

And I think it's so different to, like, I think there's the added level that she was adopted. Yeah. And like, they wanted to have a baby so badly, and like, did whatever they could to have.

So maybe it was just like, Yeah, it was just out of an abundance of love and protective nature, definitely, you know.

Now at college, Joan was instantly popular with her peers and her instructors, and she also maintained her passion for riding. And she spent most of her free time when she wasn't at classes or anything at the stables. But at the same time, she also was keeping up with her grades. She was doing really well in school, trying to satisfy her parents, and while she may have loved her mother and father, she definitely did. Their constant presence eventually did become stifling. And, of course, you can imagine she's at college like she wants to branch out a little bit. One of her friends later said Most of us felt sorry for her.

Oh, I know that's the thing it can backfire.

That's exactly.

But it's never intentional, you know what I mean, like, it's always you can understand it.

No, and I really, I really don't think it came from anywhere other than a place of just love, really loving that child, real, real, raw love.

Yeah, yeah, it's sad.

No, when she was younger, you know? In her childhood years. The love and attention that she got from her parents, specifically her father, helped Joan grow into like a confident, empowered young woman. But as an adult, that same adoration had become a little more oppressive and smothering. At this point, yeah. While she was still in college, she appeared in a drama department production, which sparked an interest in acting that actually led her all the way to Hollywood to take a screen.

I mean, show business is not a is a scary place it is. You can. You can see the you can see the hesitance that you would have to allow your child, your only child.

100%.

To enter that I get that but like.

And especially during this time, like.

That's, and that's the other thing. This is a very different time. I mean, any time really sucks.

Any time entering show business is like intense, but this was like a it was like frowned upon at this point in time.

And it's, and it looked, it's looked at very different at that time, so it's like.

Yeah, and.

But it sucks for her because it's like, it's what she wants to do. No matter what you want your parents to like, support your dreams.

You know, absolutely.

But it's a tough, it's a tough little double-edged sword there.

It is I do get to a degree where where Ash was coming from, but I also understand I get his, I get his worry, yes.

Yeah, you can see both sides there, for sure.

And I think as much of him, as much of him that wanted her to not become an actress. It also had a lot to do with the distance that would have been between them. Oh, for sure.

That's the thing.

That was also a big part of it.

That's this is why this is one of those things that it's like, you're not seeing. These like, you know, shitty parents who are just hard asses to for the sake of being hard asses, you know what? I mean? That just like, put all these crazy, unnecessary expectations on this child and have, like, driven her to. It just seems like it's like you can kind of understand both sides of this coin here, which makes it so sad. It's a lot.

I get, I get all of it.

Yeah, you seem like you just all love each other and want to make each other happy, and it's difficult for that to happen. Yeah.

But over time, it would become clear that Ash Robinson's influence over his daughter's life extended well beyond professional and financial. While she was still in college, Joan met and fell in love with a man named Spike Shut up, Spike Benton Shut up.

Is this William the Bloody?

It's not no, it's just Spike Benton.

It's just spike, it's just spike.

He was a young man from a pretty prominent New Orleans family. Oh so, like, both of your, your interests there. Oh my goodness he. Yeah. He's from a pretty prominent New Orleans family, and he had recently graduated from the United States Military Academy.

That's adorable.

Ash was like, No, oh, and no, not happening.

That's not adorable.

He was like, You guys are too young, I really don't want Joan to marry you while you're an active member of the military. And I also think it's going to be way too expensive for you guys to keep up with the horses. So no.

I mean, he just tacked that on. He's like, horses are expensive as well.

He's like, Sorry, she's a really good rider. You're in the military, so you're going to move around a lot, which I'm not going to let that happen.

That must be so hard, it must be so hard. I dread this kind of stuff because it's like, you have to let go and you have to relinquish a little bit of control.

But you don't know how because you've never done it.

But you've spent their whole life doing nothing but trying to keep them safe and steer them the right directions and teach them things. And like, make sure they're okay. And then you just have to release all of it.

And hope that whatever you did.

And hope you did it all right.

Right?

So it's like, I can't imagine how much, but it's like, the more you fight for control as they get older. I just from what I've witnessed, it feels like it just backfires and it must be such a hard balance to strike.

Because that's the thing you hope that, like you just said, you hope that you gave them enough, that they're going to make good decisions, and you also hope that you know like, you loved them enough and created like a bond with them. Where if they're not doing okay, they'll come to you exactly, and you have to have faith in that exactly.

But it's tough.

Is where letting go could become a little easier. If you have that bond where you know that they'll still come to you.

Exactly.

And I don't know if Ash even really thought about that. Yeah, I think he was just blinded by, like, I can't let this happen.

Yeah, it was just blind fear of like, she's going to leave.

Exactly, and for that reason, literally any reason he could possibly think of for them not to get married, he named and used in his argument against this idea. But despite his refusal, Joan insisted that she wanted to marry Spike, and eventually her father did relent. And he gave his blessing. But it took some time.

It took a little bit, yes.

I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. I was like, at my locker and she came up to me and she was like, stuttering, super bad. I'm like, stop around, She's like, I can't.

Is really precious and so lovely. But like, there's got to be a little division here.

Yeah, like, if my, you know, my grandpa came to my house every single day for coffee. Like right now, when I had just gotten married, I'd be like, I love you so much and you can. You can totally do this, but this is a lot. But, like, we need a little separate.

And that's the thing. If it was just coffee every morning and that was their thing and they decided that was their thing, then that was it. And otherwise they had very like, regular, average time together. You know, like, that's one thing, but it's like, because there's so much other, I'm sure it became a little stifling.

Yeah, a little like domineering.

Unintentionally.

No, it wasn't long before the, you know? The stifling constancy of Ash Robinson became a point of contention for Spike and Joan in the marriage. And unfortunately, within six months, the marriage completely fell apart. Oh, boy and Joan. It sent her back to Texas with her parents, All three of them relocated back to Texas. Luckily for Joan, it wasn't long before she fell in love again, this time with a New Orleans lawyer named Cecil Burgess.

She's loving New Orleans here.

She does, and she's also just like gorgeous, so you can see why she's not having any trouble now. Cecil and Joan there, they both really shared a love of horses and riding the horses, and they really bonded over that. And before long, the prospect of marriage was raised yet again, but this time Ash just flat out refused to allow his daughter to quote. Run from the ruins of one marriage and into another.

We're starting to overstep a little.

A little bit, a little bit. In fact, he not only refused to give his blessing to this specific marriage, but he quote unquote forbid it, which like, Okay, okay.

Forbidding your child to do something, especially when they are older, is really just a recipe for them doing it immediately. Ding, ding, ding.

Because, regardless of her father's feelings, Joan and Cecil ended up eloping in 1949, and they just got married by a justice of the peace, without anybody there.

Yeah, of course.

But unfortunately, this marriage didn't really last long either, and within six months, Joan actually just ended up leaving Cecil and filed for divorce shortly after. At the time, the Robinsons told friends and family that Cecil had been a good man, but that he had a gambling problem that had ultimately ruined the marriage. But the truth was actually that Joan's parents had lied to her about Ash having a heart attack in order to lure her back to Texas. And once she was there, Ash had successively convinced Joan to leave her husband by offering to buy her a new car, mink coats, new horses and telling her that he needed her more than Cecil did.

That's fucked up.

And he did not.

I'm just gonna be honest with you, that's fucked up.

Yeah, see, the thing is.-.

We've crossed a very large boundary, the boundary is so big.

This is dysfunctional at this point.

This is so, this is toxic, this is not okay, nothing. I've been trying, I've been trying to be like, you know, parents love their kids, it's hard, you know, shit, wow, okay, you just love being near her, but you're right.

We crossed over.

That I gave a big, wide, wide boundary and they just, they just galloped right over it.

Like a horse.

Like a horse, Like a horse, yeah.

Now, by 1951, when she was just 20 years old, Joan had graduated from college and was twice married and twice divorced. So she was still living at home with her parents. At this point, she was really completely free of responsibility, but she was ambitious and eager to leave some kind of mark on the world. So she started competing in horse riding tournaments again around Texas and the southern part of the country.

Damn, so she was really.

She was really talented.

Like, really good, yeah.

And she really wanted to have, she wanted to make some kind of name for herself, like in some professional endeavor, and she. She set that goal for herself and succeeded.

She very much succeeded.

And she couldn't have picked a better time to be unattached and unencumbered. Because by the late 1950s and early 60s, the oil boom in and around Texas made countless men into millionaires.

Oh, just millionaires.

Millionaires coming out of the woodwork, Dallas, Dallas, millionaires. And this whole movement really transformed the city into kind of like a playground for the elite and the newly wealthy.

It's Dallas, it's Dallas.

And as a member of the Old Guard, Joan Robinson was at the center of Houston's High Society.

She was old money.

She was old money, she was beautiful, she could have had whoever the hell she wanted she was.

Wow, look at Joan.

Dining at the finest restaurant? She was being photographed everywhere because she's pretty much a socialite. I would say she was getting photographed at the opera, nightclubs, freaking cafes even. And according to Thompson quote the author, there were weeks when Joan's name and photograph appeared six or eight times in the papers. Always she seemed to be flying off to a horse show or winging in from Hollywood, where people ogled her at the. I think it's the the Mocambo.

Mocambo.

It's a nightclub, I looked up how to pronounce it, and it's like a place, but then it's also like a nightclub. I think it's the Mocambo.

I like it.

I don't know.

I've never been there.

I haven't either. It's it doesn't exist anymore.

Her life sounds pretty fun.

Yeah, I love it, like the shit you read about in, like, good books.

Yeah, just like, say, you know what? sounds great for her.

Love it now. Despite all the trouble her father's overbearing presence had caused, Joan always made a point to share her life with her parents. No matter what turmoil and tension there had been, she did love her parents, and she loved her dad. Years later, after her Joan's death, her mother, Rhea, would tell a reporter I often felt the only real love in my life was Joan. Every time I went out with my daughter, I had a wonderful time.

Which that really breaks my heart.

That, like, like Ash, wasn't like a real love for her, you know?

Yeah, and it's like, damn.

And I wonder if because they didn't necessarily have that with each other in their marriage, that they they loved Joan to kind of make up for that.

They had so much extra love to shower her with.

Not in like a marital way or anything like that. But just it was like a different kind of love that they that they really devoted their lives to.

It's like, as I mean, as twisted as that love got at the end with, like the lying about a heart attack and all that. Like, that's fucked up. But like, but you know, even that was done out of, I think, desperation. And like, because of a love that is a little different than we can comprehend. Yeah, but yeah, it's like, that's this, just feels like I don't know. They needed family therapy.

They did, but this was like the 50s.

They would have benefited from it. Yeah, it wasn't going to happen then, it was not going to happen, but now I'd be like, just, you know, sit down with some people.

Back then, they were like, Do cocaine about it?

Yeah, just, you know, that's fine.

It'll, it'll intensify everything, yeah.

Everything will be great.

No, they they were not doing cocaine. I'm not saying that, I'm just like lolling.

It was just in the 50s.

But meanwhile, Ash continued to be a dominant presence in Joan's life. He was finding ways to drive off any potential suitors before any real relationship could begin. One former boyfriend, Travers Fell, recalled meeting Ash for the first time. And he said I could see the hate in his eyes. That old bastard leaned on me every way he could. I got the impression that Joan wanted to get away from her father, but she loved, but she both loved him and feared him.

Dr. John.

Mm-hmm. He was a very good looking guy in Joan's eyes, he had an earnest personality. So later that afternoon, Joan called Riley Foster's wife, Maggie, and insisted that they set her up with John Hill as soon as they could.

She's going after what she wants.

She is that Joan is a go-getter, she is, she is. Now let's talk a little bit about John Hill.

Yeah.

John was right in the middle of the three kids, and he was said to be the most dominant and energetic of the Hill children. He was known mostly for his curiosity and penchant for taking things apart, to see how they worked, how everything functioned. Okay. Growing up, he and his brother Julian, they had a really, really close bond, they were almost inseparable.

Yes, absolutely.

Because all the time people are like, you guys are really close, but you have completely.

Different people, it works.

And it just works. And they developed a deep love for music that they bonded over between the two of them. And that would really kind of they would maintain that love for the rest of their lives and it was a huge part of their relationship. I love that now. That passion that they shared came in handy at church, where Myra was a strict follower of the doctrine and raised her children to do likewise.

Lots of pressure, I was just going to say no pressure, though.

Even despite a pronounced defiant streak in his personality, though, John did make his mother's dream come true. When he came home for Christmas break during his sophomore year in college, and he announced that he did want to attend medical school.

Look at John.

I know he was like, Hey mom, good news, I'm about to be number 10, number 10, number 10..

A common problem.

Yeah, fuck that. And he was like, let me pursue plastic surgery because there's a lack of plastic surgeons in this region. And I could also become hella rich.

I was just going to say, and it definitely doesn't hurt to paycheck.

He was like, let's do it now. While some of John's friends and family remember him as a quiet, unassuming young doctor, there was also definitely a streak of arrogance and recklessness about him. That people remember that occasionally caused problems. Yeah, in one incident early on in his medical career, he performed surgery on an older person who was suffering alcoholism. And this surgery was basically he was performing it. In order to drain excess fluid from the man's stomach. I guess the procedure is a relatively common, simple one, but there is a risk of puncturing the bowel, which can cause a obviously massive infection.

You don't want to do that.

And that is precisely what happened. Whether he realized that he had hit the poop pipe for lack of a better term, whether he realized he did that or not is unknown. But when he finished the surgery, John simply sewed up the patient and walked away, and days later, the man developed peritonitis and ended up dying. Now, when John was called before the senior surgeon at the hospital. He flatly denied having perforated the bowel, but said if it did happen, it was so minor that it didn't need a repair when it did happen.

Honey, you can't perforate the bowel.

You just can't.

Like, even minorly, like, you can't do that.

Yeah, the surgeon that he had to talk to later said That guy had a million defenses. But he was so charming and so eager that I didn't want to wreck his career over one mistake.

One mistake, it caused somebody's life.

Yeah, I don't know if I would call that like a mistake.

Eek.

Yeah, but anyway.

All right.

To friends Joan and John, when they did get together, because they did, they made a bit of an unlikely pair. To Maggie Foster, the woman who had set them up at Joan's request, the relationship actually seemed doomed to fail, in her opinion.

Okay.

She was like, I didn't really want to set them up, but Joan insisted.

Set them up to knock them down.

She was like, I didn't have any plans to do that until Joan called me and asked me to. Maggie said she knows horses and nightclubs and where Pa keeps his checkbook. John Hill knows how to play the trombone and make sutures. He's a mama's boy who winces every time Joan says, God damn, which is off?

She's like, Joan says, God damn a lot.

She's like, Joan says, God damn a lot, John doesn't like it, he's a mama's boy. Fuck them both.

And she's like a daddy's girl, he's a mama's boy. It's like, Eee.

Yeah, it's not great, but Joan and John, they did hit it off, like I said, okay. She was taken by his charm and welcomed the opportunity to share her luxurious world with somebody who still found Houston Society exciting, which, I think, in turn, made it exciting for her.

Yeah, because she's been here the whole time, she's just been living this life.

Yeah, and it was kind of getting dull because I think she was lonely.

But now, through someone else's eyes, it's like, Oh, this is pretty luxurious.

Right, exactly now. More importantly, though, for one reason or another, Ash Robinson didn't lose his mind at the idea of Joan and John dating, huh? This was the first time this had happened. In fact, when Joan brought John to meet her father and ask for his permission to get married, Ash was more than hospitable and even took an interest in John and his career.

Maybe he saw his daughter with a doctor, maybe he just looked at this as a respectable career, the most respectable.

I think so, I definitely think so.

And he's going to make a lot of money.

And he is setting himself up for a life in Texas, not somewhere else.

Yeah, so they're staying here. He's got a lot of money.

They're going to be part of this social circle.

Part of high society, he's a doctor. Yeah, I get it.

And years later, Thompson speculated it must have occurred to Ash Robinson that the alliance was on balance, one that he could live with. Joan was 26 years old, and if she had to marry somebody, then John Hill was not the worst of choices.

That's the thing. It doesn't seem like, you know, he's like a bad guy. So no, I don't know anything about this case.

So I am just spew, spew.

I don't know that he is a bad guy, to be honest. Maybe I'll regret saying that, but right now I get why. Ash was like, You know, this looks fine.

I will tell you early on that I think you're going to go on the same roller coaster that I did.

I hate roller coasters with John, Let's go.

I don't. I still don't know how I feel about John, one way or the other.

It sounds so weird because we're talking about John, and I'm like, Oh, I think John's great.

You're like, take your earrings out.

Let's fight like, Yeah, we're not getting on a roller coaster. John will get vertigo, okay?

JOHN HILL I should say now, so Ash didn't say no, yeah, he was fine with it. John and Joan married in September of 1957, and they had a ceremony held in her parents huge backyard. It was gorgeous.

I was going to say, I mean, that was definitely the reason. He was like, Wow, you could just live in my house.

It'll save you so much money. For John, though, who had just begun his residency, living with Ash and Rhea, Robinson was a godsend. Yeah. At the time, surgical residents were only paid $165 a month. Damn.

Crazy while breaking their backs to go through a residency.

Exactly, it was barely anything, considering the work week, that could range anywhere from 60 to 80 hours. Damn, and so. The arrangement made it so that the couple not only saved on rent, but also benefited from meals. And food and electricity, and all the things that you have to pay for.

Rhea and Ash coming to the rescue.

Exactly, and in addition to all of that, as members of Houston Society, most social events and other entertainment were paid for by Joan's parents. So they got to live this lifestyle, yeah.

And not have to pay for it. Rub two pennies together.

Right, without the crushing financial stress that most medical students experience. John and Joan were able to enjoy the early days of their marriage. Yeah, but John's frequent appearances in the society pages was a constant irritant to the ethics committee at the hospital. Oh.

I can see that, yeah.

I don't want to know that my doctor's out all night at a nightclub.

I don't want to know anything about my doctor.

Yeah, just that, like, he's nice to me when I'm there.

I like my doctor.

Say, I love my doctor.

He does a good job. Yeah, that's all I want to know about him. I don't want to open up a tabloid and see him, like, you know, hanging out with whoever at the nightclub.

Downing Cristal Yeah.

I don't want to see that.

I'm good like, do it.

Oh, by all means go, I don't give a shit what you're doing, doctor, but like,....

Dodge the photos, yeah.

Like, Dr. Jeffrey, it's fine, like, just do your thing.

Yeah, exactly.

Don't tell me about it, so I get it. They're like, we don't need you showing everybody what you're doing all the time.

And the ethics committee? They weren't the only thing that put distance between John and Joan Hill, because they did since John had to ease up on these appearances. Joan's schedule was usually really, really busy and required her to travel most days out of the week, and John really, hardly ever went with her. Even when he could, he didn't, really.

Not making an effort.

No, the result of these circumstances was that they pretty much began living separate social lives. John focused on his career and his music, because, remember, he's really passionate about music. And Joan on her horses and competitions. But neither, at this point, seemed resentful or jealous of the other.

All right, so they just have their own things, and it worked for a bit, yeah.

In June of 1960, Joan actually ended up giving birth to a boy that the couple named Robert Ashton Hill, and they nicknamed him. Or, excuse me, I should say Ash. His grandfather nicknamed him Boot.

Boot Yeah.

That's hilarious. I'm not sure what that was about. Little boot, Little boot. That's adorable, little boot.

Hey little boot. little boot boot.

I love that, I think it's adorable, I love it, I don't.

It makes me laugh because it's so cute.

I don't know if that was like a Texas thing.

Like you wore little boots.

I'm sure, yeah. Like, Oh, look at the little boot, look at this little boot, a little cowboy boot. But the pregnancy and the birth had been actually difficult for Joan.

Oh, you mean, she created a whole human in her body, and now things have to be a little different.

Yeah, oh, okay. And you know, like she is dealing with the aftereffects of creating and delivering human life. It's a little tough.

It's a big thing.

For one thing, as we all know, children are expensive, they sure are.

Time consuming, very much so.

And John being in his final year of residency meant that they would need to continue relying heavily on Ash and Rhea, Joan's parents, for financial and practical support.

Practicable support, practical support.

For Ash Robinson, though, the birth of his grandson could not have been a more celebratory event. He fucking loved that boy.

That was just like, I'm like, he just wants to, like, I don't know. he just loves kids, I don't know.

He loves his family. This is a lot of mixed feelings here, I know it's a lot.

But I'm like, he really does love his family, he does.

It's kind of sweet, he said. Well, he loves most of his family, he said of his son-in-law's apprehension about, you know, becoming a father. I don't care if he's ready or not, we're very happy. He's like, I don't give a fuck about him.

I don't give a fuck about that guy, I'm happy. Yeah, he's like, I'm psyched, I'm a grandpa. I got a little boot now.

I'm grandpa fucking ash and this is my little boot shut up, that's so cute, that's hilarious.

And that's really sweet.

They were really close for a long time, and John and Joan, they managed to survive the distance between them. Caused by their different interests and their social lives, they kept up appearances for their neighbors and the society pages. But I think becoming parents, and, you know, for John specifically, the baby, and more specifically Ash's adoration of the baby, brought about new opportunities for criticism in the Robinson Hill household. That was going to test the strength of their marriage.

Yeah.

By 1963, Ash had become more vocally dismissive of John, telling friends that John contributed nothing to the household. Seemed to have no trouble spending his own money on a piano or other musical interests, but like not providing at all for his kid. Once at a party, Ash was overheard, telling another guest. Here comes the famous plastic surgeon John Hill, who never even bought his son a jar of baby food.

And you're just like, damn.

And like, John is like, right over, John Hill is right over there, and you're in between that, like the tension within that moment.

And that's like a mic drop boom. He's not even buying his kid baby food, and it's like, Eek.

Yikes.

That's not a good look, my friend, that is not a good look.

Yeah, and the thing was in the world of Houston's elite. John was checking all the right boxes as he was climbing up the social ladder. But as long as he lived in his father-in-law's house, he was never going to be considered to be truly successful. In fact, when his colleague, Dr. Nathan Roth, offered him a position at his private practice. It came with the stipulation that John move himself and his family out of the Robinson's house and into his own home. John was obviously very happy to accept this offer because tensions had gone past a point of being manageable, being any kind of manageable.

Yeah, that helps.

So, while the opportunity to establish himself in private practice was incredibly exciting, there was still the matter of Ash Robinson, or, more specifically, how John was going to tell Ash Robinson. That not only would he no longer need his financial support, but that he would be moving away with the two most important people in the man's life.

Oh boy, yeah.

Not surprisingly, Ash responded poorly to the news. Not shocked, Joan insisted that it was for the best and that the house that they found for their little family was only a few miles away. So it wasn't like they wouldn't be able to still see each other every day. Regardless, John had made up his mind, and in 1963, the family moved to their own home, about 10 minutes away from the Robinson's. Oh, not bad.

Oh, that's so sad.

So he had like, a lot on him, yeah, and the bleak future that he envisioned for himself because he lives in Texas in the-.

In the 60s, at this point, 60s, at this point, very early 60s, that had just become too much for him to bear. Yeah.

But because this happened right as they were starting to, kind of, you know, get out on their own. It set them back big time because that's a lot to deal with. They were best friends. John and Julian. That's sad, yeah, and it was the first tragedy that they really went through as a couple.

It'll test you.

Yeah, and they would experience a lot more tragedy. In the years that followed Julian's death and the start of John's professional career, Joan and John continued to drift slowly but steadily apart. After joining the practice, John, he really threw himself fully into building a name for himself at the practice and among the social circles.

Literally anything.

Anything at all.

That's shitty.

It is.

And to not make an effort.

And that's the thing. Her complaints about this lack of a relationship were not baseless.

Because it's like, I get that you're trying to, like, move up in the like, you're trying to, you know, make a better life and all that.

Yeah, be successful at work and whatnot.

But to not make any time for your child, that's on you, man.

And it's like it would be one thing. If you were pouring everything into work, that would still be something that I would want to talk about. Yeah, but it was like, you're pouring a lot into work.

And your social status?

And your social status and your personal hobbies? Yeah, and leaving nothing for our son.

Not impressed by that?

Because since moving into their home, John had spent thousands and thousands of dollars renovating the place to accommodate his interests and his tastes. And despite a substantial increase in his salary, actually, within just one year of private practice, he was making $168,000 annually, which would be like making $1.5 million today. Holy shit. But the family was struggling with finances even at that level.

Because he was going so hard.

Because he was going so hard on his own shit, not even like pouring it into a little booth there. But the most important thing to John, in his own eyes, was to build a music room in the house where he could retreat. It's like, What are you fucking retreating from?

Retreating from What man, you don't see your kid?

You don't see your kid ever. He just wanted to retreat, to play or listen to music. And after contracting with Houston-based engineer Louis Earth, John told the man Since I was a little boy, it has been my dream to build such a room. Money's no object, the only goal is perfection.

It's an object, man.

Now, years later, Louis recalled his initial conversation with John, noting that the man was not just insistent, but he said he actually seemed possessed. Whoa, he was like, he was really, really intense about this. Not only did the music room dig the hills deeper into debt, but it also gave John one more place where he could escape his family, which he did not need.

Yeah.

By the summer of 1968, after years of frustration, John demanded that he take a few days off and drive with her to pick up boot. From summer camp, where he'd been for four weeks, he went to, like, a little program. Yeah, John agreed to take the trip, but neither of them knew that it would be a trip that only further complicated things in their marriage. So here, Joan is being like, Can you actually show up for once?

Don't even.

She was a woman who had changed his life dramatically.

Don't even.

Like John and Joan, Ann had visited the camp that weekend to pick up her children. One afternoon, as John was sitting with the other families in the mess hall for lunch. He just leaned over and introduced himself to Miss Ann there and her son, who were seated right by him. And over the course of the weekend, John and Ann just kept bumping into one another at the camp, while Joan was off somewhere. You know, taking care of their fucking child.

Oh, come on.

And when they returned to Houston a few days later, John called Ann. He was like, Hey.

Oh, he just had her number.

Yeah, he got her number over the course of that bonding time where he was supposed to be showing up for his son.

Oh, I tell you.

He called Ann and he said, Oh, I had my film developed. I took a bunch of pictures while we were away this weekend. Do you want to see some of the pictures? huh? I would love to meet up and show you some of the pictures.

Yeah, totally, this is fine, everything's totally fine, yeah.

Ann knew that John was married to a society woman, no less. But she figured she would entertain the little fantasy for a little while longer before ultimately shutting it down. For the sake of decency and decorum.

Ann Come on, yeah, what the fuck both of you?

What the fuck? But the problem was, she liked the attention.

Oh, fuck off.

And more than that, she really liked John Hill.

Well, he's married.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Please, Anne.

Yeah, bitch, please. After a few weeks of clandestine meetings, I love the word clandestine.

Yeah, it makes it sound so much nicer than it actually is.

I know secret asshole meetings.

Fucked up.

Bullshit.

Betrayal.

Gross meetings, but clandestine, too.

Like, Oh, you have time for that.

Ah, now you're fucking good though. So after a few weeks of those secret meetings, John was up front with Anne about his intentions. She later recalled. He was like, You're mine, I want you marked.

This is really gross. Agreed, This is really gross.

Yeah, well, and Anne was like, Okay, what about your wife? John said.

Oh, now you're asking about his wife.

Yeah, I love that. Did you hear my eye roll from over here? Oh, what, huh?

Yeah, let's ask about her now that it's not sounding so great to you, exactly.

Yeah, so when she asked about Joan, John said, You know, their relationship had been over for quite some time and he was, quote, trapped in a marriage. He had to get out of, Oh, shut up, it's like, then get out of it and give me a call once that's done. Over the years, he said, they drifted apart.

The fact that this man met this woman, and this woman met this man at a summer camp, picking up their children, yeah, they should be ashamed of themselves.

150 million percent now. One fall day, Joan returned home from a horse show to find a note. I repeat a note. They'd been married, like, I want to say, like, probably 10 years at this point.

He did not burger from the city. Fuck you.

I wrote that in my notes. did you? I literally I will show it to you. Oh my God, I literally wrote that in my notes.

I'm sorry, I can't, don't hate me.

This is what I wrote, obviously infuriated at the equivalent of burgers. I'm sorry, I can't. No, yes.

I can't, I'm sorry, I can't.

Don't hate me, I do hate you, I'll post it. Oh my God, I can't same level.

Her husband and the father of her child.

Correct never returned her calls, so that night she went to her parents. Which I would be like, Daddy, yeah, right, you're like, I've been wronged.

Let Ash know.

Ash isn't gonna stand for this. That night, she went to her parents, She told them what happened and Ash's instinct, This man's, this man's a faja. His instinct was to hire a private detective to find all the information he possibly could to destroy his son-in-law. And you know what, let's go.

I mean, just parent things, you know?

I'm sorry if you leave.

You are my kid, it's gloves off.

You are my kid, and you leave your fucking, my grandson, your son. Boot, I'm sorry, gloves off.

You hurt Joan and boot Ash isn't letting this go.

I would never No, and neither would Ash Robinson.

He's gonna get the coast guard on it, like he's placed us on this, legit?

So Joan managed to, you know, de-escalate her dad. But the next day, yeah, I mean, it's fun to talk about, it's fun to talk about. Oh so, she de-escalated him in the moment. But the next day, once she had gotten over the initial shock of abandonment, she also felt pretty vindictive. And in the two weeks that followed, she told everybody about what her husband had done, how he simply walked out on her and boot. And she was like, I hope I fucking tarnish his entire reputation.

Yeah, I mean, I'd be I'm Tom Petty, too, like that would be.-.

Bitch, I have Tom Petty tattooed on my body.

Yeah, like, fuck that you're gone, literally, sorry, done you walk out on your wife and your child?

The worst part of this, and I feel like you'll agree, the worst part of this to me is finally. After the word had spread all around Houston, John called Joan finally and asked if they could meet. Wouldn't answer any calls before that.

But now that he's getting it everywhere-.

Now that people are talking, then you want to talk to me? Oh, okay, I'd be like, I'm busy, I have a manicure now with this is just hot girl shit.

Can't take the heat.

Can't so. When Joan returned to where her friend was waiting, the two women jumped in their car and followed John, and the woman that they could now see was in his vehicle with him.

This is so gross.

He brought his mistress to a meeting to discuss his marriage. She was like, wait in the car while I figure this out.

This is so icky, I know.

It's giving If you're watching Real Housewives of Miami right now, that's what it's giving my baby Lisa.

This is just really gross.

It's horrible.

Like, I feel for Joan so hard here, I do too, like this is just really gross.

You will feel for Joan for the rest of ever. Yeah, like, I really do so. After a slow motion car chase back to John's office, Joan confronted John and Ann, the woman who was in the car, demanding to know whether they were having an affair.

Wait, what? He said he was having an affair with her husband.

Yeah, which was not true.

Why didn't he just say I'm having an affair with this woman?

I couldn't tell you.

That is the strangest lie I have ever heard.

I don't know if it was because Ann was right there, like.

No, there's literally like, you can try to find a little string of logic there. there's no string of logic either way. You're having an affair, why are you lying about the person you're having an affair with?

I don't know.

I don't know about that logic.

That logic is ridiculous, but that's the only thing that I can see as to why.

I would have done that, I'd be like, what, what?

Yeah, exactly what? So Joan was stunned by this news, yeah, and also found it very hard to believe.