In Episode 440, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger head to Falmouth, Maine, to search for Edwin Robinson who was struck my lightning on June 4, 1980. It turns out, Robinson may just be the luckiest man in the history of Maine.
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CREDITS:
Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Guest Voice: Marv Anderson
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[THUNDER STORM IN DISTANCE]
RAY: Jeff, we should probably get inside soon. It looks like a storm is coming.
JEFF: Yeah, I see that. I’m sure we can hope into this coffee shop and grab something warm while we wait for the storm to pass.
[DOOR OPENS / BELL RINGS]
RAY: Hello! We’ll take two of those. Thanks!
JEFF: So we’re in downtown Falmouth, Maine – the next town north up the coast from Portland.
RAY: Falmouth is a quaint seaport town.
JEFF: It is. It’s close enough to the city of Portland, it’s right on the water, but still has that small-town feel to it.
RAY: Definitely. Oh hey, the hot drinks are ready. (AWAY FROM MIC) Thank you! Cheers!
JEFF: Cheers.
RAY: So what are we looking for in Falmouth?
JEFF: Ray, we’ve come to Falmouth, to find… the luckiest man in Maine.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger, and welcome to Episode 440 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. Most of our story leads come from you. Like this one! Thank you to our buddy Lauren Middleton for sending this one in. Lauren helps us with our website, our app, and our super secret New England Legends Facebook group. If you’ve got a story you think we should check out, please email us anytime through our website.
JEFF: We’ll go searching for the luckiest man in Maine right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: So we’re looking for a lucky guy?
JEFF: The luckiest guy in Maine!
RAY: Did he win the lottery or something?
JEFF: Arguably, he got something better than a lottery win.
RAY: Wow! I can’t wait to find out what that could be. (BEAT) So the history of Falmouth dates back almost 14,000 years to when the first people arrived. Farming started here by the Native Americans at least 3,500 years ago. Then European settlers arrived in the 1600s. Those early years of settlement were full of violence between the colonists, the Native Americans, the British, and the French to the north. Later, during the American Revolution, there was more violence as the port of Falmouth became a target. Still, once the revolution ended, Falmouth settled down into a community for shipping, fishing, and farming.
JEFF: Generation have come and gone here, and it’s in Falmouth, that we can find one very lucky guy. So let’s not dawdle, Ray. We’re going to head back to the year 1980, and search for the luckiest man in Maine.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s early June of 1980 here in Falmouth, Maine. Jimmy Carter is President of the United States, the Cable News Network just launched as the first 24-hour news channel. Most people call it CNN. And “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. is number one on the radio.
JEFF: The 80s are here. A new decade with new possibilities. Here in Falmouth, life goes on as it has for many decades. Some folks work the sea, some work the land, some don’t work at all.
RAY: But we’re looking for the luckiest man in Maine. Does that mean he doesn’t work?
JEFF: Not having a job doesn’t make you lucky… but in this case, yes, you’re correct. He doesn’t have a job. We’re looking for a local man named Edwin Robinson. He’s 62 years old.
RAY: Edwin Robinson is our guy?
JEFF: He’s our guy. A very lucky guy.
RAY: How so?
JEFF: Nine years ago, while working as a long-haul truck driver, he was involved in a bad accident on an icy overpass. His truck jackknifed on a bridge in North Providence, Rhode Island.
RAY: That doesn’t sound lucky.
JEFF: He lost most of his hearing and most of his eyesight in the accident.
RAY: Yeah, again… that doesn’t sound very lucky.
JEFF: He DID survive the accident. That was lucky.
RAY: Okay, there’s a silver lining.
JEFF: Time passes. He’s fitted with hearing aids that help him hear bits and pieces of sounds. And he’s got coke-bottle eyeglasses to help him make out rough shapes and things like that, but he is legally blind. Still. He’s lucky.
RAY: I mean, I guess that beats the alternative.
JEFF: Also, did I mention that Edwin started going bald when he was 18 years old?
RAY: Okayyy… how is that lucky?
JEFF: I’m sure that saved him a ton of money on haircuts over the years.
RAY: I guess. So just to recap, Edwin is now he’s deaf, blind, and bald.
JEFF: Deaf, blind, bald, and lucky.
RAY: Right.
[RAIN STORM / THUNDER / LIGHTNING]
RAY: It’s the afternoon of Wednesday, June 4th.
[CHICKEN CLUCKING]
RAY: Edwin Robinson is searching his yard for his pet chicken, Tuck Tuck.
JEFF: There’s a storm coming, so Edwin is trying to bring his chicken inside for shelter.
RAY: The rain is starting to come down pretty good.
[THUNDER]
JEFF: Man, we shouldn’t be out here. There’s lightning dancing across the sky.
RAY: Meanwhile, Tuck Tuck the chicken has already found shelter in the garage. He’s quietly watching Edwin standing in the rain searching for something.
JEFF: Edwin can’t see or hear much, and he’s getting desperate to find his pet chicken. He can hear the there’s thunder booming over his head. He feels the rain. He knows he should find some shelter. So Edwin shuffles over under the cover of a nearby tree by his garage.
[LOUD THUNDER / SIZZLING SOUND]
RAY/JEFF: Oh man! Lookout!
RAY: Lightning just struck that tree right near the garage!
JEFF: And Edwin has been knocked to the ground. Is he…
RAY: No, I can see him breathing. But he’s definitely unconscious.
[RAIN SLOWLY FADES]
JEFF: It’s been 20 minutes since the lightning strike knocked Edwin Robinson out.
[CHICKEN CLUCK]
JEFF: Tuck Tuck the chicken seems fine. He’s walking toward Edwin for a closer look.
RAY: Look at that! Edwin’s hearing aids have been blown out of his ears. Each one sits maybe six feet from his head on either side.
JEFF: Still, Edwin is lucky.
RAY: How so?! First, a terrible accident takes away his sight and hearing. He went bald at a young age. Now he’s been struck by lightning! How is he lucky?!
JEFF: He’s alive, isn’t he?
RAY: Yeah, I guess he’s escaped death twice now. (BEAT) Oh good, he’s getting up.
[EDWIN GROANS]
JEFF: Edwin is sitting up and moving his head around. He’s dazed. Confused, but it looks like he’s going to be okay.
RAY: Edwin looks bewildered. His mouth is hanging open like he’s seen a ghost.
JEFF: He’s getting up now. He’s looking all around his yard in wonder. Yeah, he’s physically okay, but clearly he had his bell rung.
RAY: Edwin is now walking back toward his house.
[CHICKEN CLUCK]
RAY: Tuck Tuck the chicken is following Edwin to the house. Edwin seems to have forgotten about his chicken for the moment. And his hearing aids are still lying in the grass somewhere.
[DOOR OPENS]
JEFF: Back inside his Falmouth home, Edwin’s wife Doris, is in the kitchen. She has no idea what just happened outside. She’s curious why her husband is soaking wet. She knows he can hardly see or hear, but he’s always had the good sense to get out of the rain before. Doris asks him what happened.
RAY: Edwin is startled by his wife’s voice. He rubs each of his own ears to confirm… yeah, his hearing aids are gone.
EDWIN: I can hear you! I can hear you just fine!
RAY: No hearing aids, and yet Edwin can hear his wife clear as day.
EDWIN: And I can read that plaque on the wall behind you!
JEFF: This is impossible. Edwin’s wife knows he can’t see much more than blurry shadows and figures. But sure enough, Edwin reads the words on the plaque on their wall.
EDWIN: I can see! And I can hear!
JEFF: This is nothing short of a miracle. Edwin explains to his wife that he was out in the storm trying to scoop up Tuck Tuck their chicken and bring him inside for safety. Just as he approached the garage, lightning struck a nearby tree, then jumped to his hearing aids, knocking them clean out of his ears. After he came to, suddenly his senses of hearing and sight were restored. Edwin… it turns out… is lucky.
RAY: It’s the following day when Edwin visits his optometrist – who is shocked to discover that Edwin now has better than 20/20 vision. No need for glasses, and obviously no need for hearing aids. The lightning strike has cured his sight and hearing.
JEFF: Something is happening to Edwin too.
RAY: What’s that?
JEFF: He’s got hair starting to grow on his bald head. It’s growing right over his ears near where the lightning struck him.
RAY: Wow. That’s some lightning strike!
JEFF: Edwin… is lucky.
JEFF: It takes just a few days for Edwin’s story to spread through the newspapers. And then, the folks at the Good Morning America television show reach out to book Edwin on their program. So now Edwin has an all-expenses trip to New York City paid for by the show. Edwin…. is lucky.
EDWIN: I’m all recharged now, literally.
JEFF: What do you want to do now, Edwin?
EDWIN: I want to do anything I can to help anybody. I want to convince people not to give up, because you just never know.
JEFF: And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: In February of 1981, Edwin suffered a heart attack. He survived because… well, he’s lucky. In the coming years just about every media outlet wanted to interview Edwin. People wanted him to comment on his miracle, they viewed what happened through a religious lens. Edwin seemed content to let folks interpret what happened to him as they will. Edwin died in May of 2001. He was 83 years old.
RAY: That’s an incredible story. Who would have thought a lightning strike could be so lucky!
JEFF: Yeah, in general I try to avoid lightning strikes.
RAY: I looked this up. It turns out only 10% of lightning strikes are fatal. So if you do get hit the odds are with you. But yeah…. avoid it if you can.
[OUTRO]
JEFF: But don’t avoid After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
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To see some pictures of Edwin Robinson and his chicken Tuck Tuck, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on Episode 440.
Make sure you’ve subscribed to our podcast wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss a thing. It’s free! You can also check out our website to see some of our back episodes, there’s links to watch the New England Legends television series right now on Amazon Prime, and dates to see Jeff’s story tour and dates to see my band the Pub Kings. So please do check us out!
We’d like to thank Marv Anderson for lending his voice acting talents this week, thank you to our sponsors, and our patreon patrons, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… stay legendary!