Berkeley Student Drowns During Camping Trip

Robinson Martin, a UC Berkeley freshman and Eagle Scout who trekked 50 miles in the High Sierras every year with high school friends, has died.

Martin went missing while on a camping trip in Humboldt County, after taking an early morning walk Jan. 8, the day before his 19th birthday.

His body was found two days later, two miles from where he had camped, the Humboldt County Coroner's Office reported.

Martin drowned near the coast, after slipping into a river, bruising his head and being carried out to sea, said UC Berkeley sophomore Andrew King, a longtime friend who flew north to join the first search party.

Friends remembered an easygoing young man with a powerful presence.

"He fit in like a glove no matter where he went," said his former high school teacher Linda Civitello.

Martin came from a modest background as the only child of a single mother who worked hard to support the family by running a small candle shop.

"Because they never had much money for fun, they would go to the library," said Susan Packer, principal of Concord High School, the tiny private academy he attended briefly. "That was how he developed his love of learning and reading."

Martin's intellect impressed Packer so much that she quickly offered him a full scholarship to the school during their first meeting.

He entered class the first day like he had always attended the school, she said.

"Robinson was the kind of person who befriended the underdog," Packer said.

Martin was one of the few upperclassmen who avoided the freshman hazing at Loyola Boys School, another small private school he attended.

Seniors would lob tubs of yogurt at the freshmen from a ledge. Martin, friends said, would never be seen anywhere near the ledge.

At Concord High School, he persisted with an "impeccable" academic record and made his way to UC Berkeley, his first-choice school, again entirely on scholarship money.

"He always came out on top," said his roommate Noah Drake, a UC Berkeley student. "He made everything look pretty effortless."

An avid musician, Robinson was often found in his dorm room improvising on the guitar.

He performed around Los Angeles in SBC Houseband, a group combining reggae and rock influences.

News of the tragedy rippled throughout the small community of friends and family who knew him through his work, music and school.

Several hundred people crowded a Los Angeles church Friday to remember Martin. Classes paused at Concord High School. In film class, they read aloud "To an Athlete Dying Young."

And one childhood friend ran out and had "Robinson Rest in Peace" permanently tattooed on his arm.

A memorial will be held Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool near Memorial Glade.

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