There are some people you think of when you think of Carrboro, and Tom Robinson was one of them. I’ve bought fish from him for the past 20 years or so. And working downtown over the past few years, I’ve found myself in the shop quite often and developed an even deeper appreciation of his knowledge and his love for the coast of our fair state.
Tom grew up on the coast. His grandfather’s place was in Atlantic on Core Sound. He understood the fisheries and the life of those who worked the waters. You could point to a fish and he could tell you what sound it was pulled from and when, and proceed to tell you about that particular body of water.
He understood the challenge to our waters presented by rampant development and lax enforcement, and how it was decimating a once-vibrant and proud way of life.
Tom Robinson built us a genuine fish house and stocked it with the best our waters had to offer, and he passed on the traditions he grew up in to customers and employees alike.
The shop will stay open and those traditions will live on and, I expect, his name will as well. That’s a legacy anyone would wish for, and in this case it’s well deserved.