J. I. Rodale

Jerome Irving Rodale
Born	Jerome Irving Rodale (1898-08-16)August 16, 1898 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Known for	Organic gardening
Spouse(s)	Anna Andrews (m. 1927; wid. 1971)
Children	Robert David Rodale (1930–1990)

Jerome Irving Rodale (surname accented on second syllable) (August 16, 1898 – June 8, 1971), was a playwright, editor, author, and founder of Rodale, Inc.

He was one of the first advocates of a return to sustainable agriculture and organic farming in the United States. He founded a publishing empire, founded several magazines, and published many books—his own and those of others—on health. He also published works on a wide variety of other topics, including The Synonym Finder. Rodale popularized the term "organic" to mean grown without pesticides.

Biography

Rodale was born in New York City on August 16, 1898, the son of a grocer. He grew up on the Lower East Side. His birth name was Cohen but, thinking it would be a handicap in business, he changed it to a non-Jewish one. He married Anna Andrews in 1927 and had three children: Robert Rodale (1930–1990), Nina Rodale (who married Robert Hale Horstman and then married Arthur Houghton), and Ruth Rodale.

Inspired by his encounter with the ideas of Albert Howard, Rodale had an interest in promoting a healthy and active lifestyle that emphasized organically grown foods. He founded Rodale, Inc. in 1930 in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and established the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm in 1940. He was the founder of Rodale Press and publisher of Organic Farming and Gardening magazine starting in 1942. Organic Farming and Gardening promoted organic horticulture; later retitled Organic Gardening. To Rodale, agriculture and health were inseparable. Healthy soil required compost and eschewing poisonous pesticides and artificial fertilizers. Eating plants grown in such soil would then help humans stay healthier, he expounded.

One of Rodale's most successful projects was Prevention Magazine, founded in 1950, which promotes preventing disease rather than trying to cure it later. It pioneered the return to whole grains, unrefined sweets, using little fat in food preparation, seldom eating animal products, folk cures, herbal medicines, and breastfeeding. It also promoted consuming more than typical amounts of nutritional supplements and forgoing nicotine and caffeine.

Death

Rodale died of a heart attack at the age of 72 while participating as a guest on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971. He was still on stage, having finished his interview, and was seated next to the active interviewee, New York Post columnist Pete Hamill. Rodale had just bragged during his just-completed interview on the show that "I'm in such good health that I fell down a long flight of stairs yesterday and I laughed all the way", "I've decided to live to be a hundred", and "I never felt better in my life!" He had also previously bragged, "I'm going to live to be 100, unless I'm run down by some sugar-crazed taxi driver."

According to Cavett, Hamill noticed something was wrong with Rodale, leaned over to Cavett, and said, "This looks bad." According to others, Cavett asked, "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?". Cavett himself said that he "emphatically" did not recall saying this, but one of the two physicians in the audience did remember this. The physicians (an internist and orthopedic surgeon, both in residency) rushed onto the stage to try to revive Rodale with CPR, including mouth to mouth resuscitation. Although the EKG continued to show cardiac activity, they were unsuccessful; Rodale was pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital The episode was never broadcast, although Cavett has described the story in public appearances and on his blog.

Legacy

After Rodale's death, his son Robert Rodale ran the publishing firm until his own death by car accident. That work included editing the high-circulation Prevention Magazine. Robert Rodale had competed in the Olympics in rifle shooting and was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1991.

Granddaughter Maria Rodale, is now chairman and CEO of Rodale, Inc. She attributes her interest in the organic food movement to growing up on America's first organic farm.

See also

• Men's Health (magazine)

Further reading

• Jackson, Carlton. J.I. Rodale: Apostle of Nonconformity. (New York: Pyramid Books, 1973). This biography details most of the material in the article above.
• Perényi, Eleanor. "Apostle of the Compost Heap". Saturday Evening Post, 16 July 1966: 30-33.

Books by J.I. Rodale

• The Synonym Finder, 1978. ISBN 978-0-87857-236-6
• How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method, 1961. OCLC 171305
• The Word Finder, 1947. ISBN 978-0-87857-138-3 OCLC 174829
• The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. OCLC 5288851
• Stone Mulching in the Garden.
• Vegetables.
• The Healthy Hunzas, 1948, Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA. 255 p.
• Are We Really Living Longer?
• Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Your Aching Back.
• Cancer, Facts & Fallacies.
• The Complete Book of Composting.
• The Hairy Falsetto: A One-Act Farcical Social Satire.
• Happy People Rarely Get Cancer.
• The complete Book of Vitamins, 1966. OCLC 804785
• The natural way to better eyesight 1966.
• The Prostate 1967, Rodale Books, Inc., Emmaus, PA. D-739; Harald Taub, Designer and Editor; Sowers Printing Co., Lebanon, PA.
• 1967: Sugar: The Curse of Civilization.

External links

• Rodale Press official website
• Organic Gardening magazine website
• Rodalestore.com
• Prevention magazine website