(1948-1992)
Robert Cole was a professional astrologer from San Francisco. His Book of Houses delved deeply into that topic and gave us a great deal to ponder on the multi-faceted nature of these important areas of our charts. Robert was one of a number lost to our field in an untimely manner due to the AIDS epidemic.
According to the biography that appeared with his contribution to the Llewellyn anthology, Financial Astrology for the 1990s, his interest in astrology began in 1972 when he studied with Cretus Locke and George Hurde in Santa Cruz, CA. Previously, he had recieved a degree in traditional metaphysics from the University of Nevada. In 1978, he began publishing a weekly column on astrology in Good Times that ultimately was syndicated in 20 weekly newspapers. In 1984, he was named one of the "Outstanding Young Men in America" by a national panel of professional business people. He belonged to AFAN, NCGR, ISAR and the National Writers' Union.
The following memorial to Robert by Jim Lewis appeared in the Fall, 1992, issue of Aspects Magazine:
"In San Francisco, at 1:24 PM on August 13, 1992, Robert Cole peacefully stopped breathing, his body's equilibrium and capacity to function having been ravaged by ten years of living with the AIDS virus. His lover of the past nine years was at his side when his consciousness left the physical world behind.
"Shortly after his death, two unknown individuals from a Tibetan religious group in Hawaii entered the hospital room and performed rituals to guide his essence on its journey through the bardos.
"Robert was an eminent Sun sign astrologer and wordsmith; the Santa Cruz Good Times carried his, "You're Stars" column for more than 15 years, a column later nationally syndicated to other weeklies. His client list ran into the thousands, and The Book of Houses sold more than 15,000 copies.
"But Robert loved most of all to puncture the balloons of overly-smug astrological professionalism with his famous letters, which, while often confrontative or outright provocative, always got published because they elicited unprecedented reader response. He made a lot of us think and question the accepted, and I know he would appreciate a living memorial of astrological activism, disseminating to others the truth that guided so much of his short life." Jim Lewis
BIRTH INFORMATION: AstroDatabank quotes the data, rated A, given in his Book of Houses as May 7, 1948, 5:18 AM PDT in Henderson, NV, 114W59; 36N02. (Obituaries in Welcome to Planet Earth and Aspects Magazine both cite 5:12 PM.) However, his student, Eric Linter of Spirit of Change Magazine--Starlight Astrology, who contributed the photo above recalls that Robert Cole told his class in 1982 that he was a triple Taurus. He mentioned eating oatmeal for breakfast everyday for 8 years!
One of a number of Balsamic Moon types you will find on these pages, Robert was born a day before a total eclipse of the Sun. The Sun also squared the Pluto/Saturn conjunction of that era, made important here by that contact with the Sun and because of its placement in his tenth house.
BOOKS AND TAPES BY ROBERT COLE
A second edition of Robert's excellent Book of Houses was issued in 1999 by Entwhistle Books and is available at major book chains.
Check our Source Page for places to find books and tapes by this and other memorialized authors.
NOTE: Robert has a block on the real AIDS quilt, number 3226. To see it, visit www.aidsquilt.org.
An Astrology AIDS Quilt
Return to the List, A-K
To Memorials, L-Z
CREDITS: The background is by Ursula Adler. The photograph of Robert Cole is an official press photo sent in by Eric Linter of Spirit of Change Magazine--Starlight Astrology. Most book covers on this site are courtesy of AstroAmerica or the publishers. The golden Taurus glyph is part of a set at RAD Graphics. This memorial was created by Donna Cunningham.
