A Short History of a Peripatetic Life

Robin Traywick Williams is a writer living in central Virginia. She writes a bi-weekly humor column, “Bush Hogs and Other Swine," about the ridiculous things in every day life. Robin is the author of “Chivalry, Thy Name Is Bubba," a collection of previous columns. A new volume, drawn from her “Bush Hogs” column, will be published soon.

A cum laude graduate of Hollins University, she also holds a masters degree from the prestigious creative writing program at Hollins.

She was an award-winning feature reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the early 1980s. In 1982, Robin was a finalist for the UPI Journalist of the Year award.

Robin was the editor of “Virginia Seasons," a highly successful cookbook published by the Richmond Junior League in 1985.
In 1989, Robin wrote a weekly column for the “Goochland Free Press." In 1992, she edited the “Goochland Gazette."
In 1993, she ran for the House of Delegates, coming within 500 votes of unseating the chairman of the appropriations committee, a 25-year incumbent. The following year, Governor George Allen appointed Robin to the Virginia Racing Commission. She was reappointed by Governor Jim Gilmore. During her 10-year tenure on the commission, she helped oversee the advent of horse racing in Virginia. Her colleagues on the commission elected her chairman each year for six years.

During that time, she was also elected as a director on the board of the Association of Racing Commissioners, International and on the board of the North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association. Robin initiated the national racing license project and served for four years as chairman of the National Racing Compact, which issued the first national license in 2000.
Robin organized the James River Chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in 2007. The local TRF committee supports “Greener Pastures," a rehabilitation and training program for inmates at James River Work Center using retired racehorses that are maintained at the prison.

Robin serves on the boards of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and TransCommunity Bank.

Robin likes to ride and work in the garden. She is a recovering craftoholic.