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out. Robinson won over Nancy Rickard by hiring her to illustrate his how-to gardening booklet. The Rickards didn’t see any return on their investment. In fact, they lost every penny of the $25,000. No one knows how many other investors suffered similar losses.
    One thing in Robinson’s promotional literature was accurate. He did have a “far reaching” imagination. This was evident when he tried to use Hydro-Gro in a grand publicity scheme designed to help finance his business. On December 8, 1977, the Kansas City Times carried an article stating that John Robinson, the president of an innovative hydroponics company, had been named the Man of the Year. The honor was bestowed on him for employing disabled people and was presented at a luncheon sponsored by a local sheltered workshop association. The previous year he’d been a consultant at Kansas City’s Blue Valley Sheltered Workshop. When Robert G. O’Bryant, the president of the workshop, resigned, Robinson was elected to take his place. From this position, he’d sent out a letter to Kansas City mayor Charles Wheeler on behalf of the Kansas City Area Association of Sheltered Workshops. The letter asked His Honor to attend a luncheon where awards would be presented to those who’d most generously helped these workshops.
    “We would like,” the official-looking document read, “to invite you or a representative from your office to be present for a small keynote speech.”
    Robinson wanted the mayor to be there so he could personally hand out the Kansas City Area Association of Sheltered Workshops’ Man of the Year award.
    Within two weeks, the mayor’s office had gotten another letter that appeared to be signed by former Blue Valley Sheltered Workshop director Paul Reiff, who was described as the chairman of the Business Recognition Luncheon. This letter mentioned Mildred Quinnett, the mayor’s secretary, and said that Wheeler had approved “a proclamation and commendation or a combination of the two” for the upcoming event. After sending out this letter, Robinson, to make certain that everything was on track for the luncheon, called Quinnett and impersonated Reiff. The trick worked. Robinson was scheduled to receive the proclamation from the mayor at City Hall on December 5, 1977, and two days later the luncheon went off as planned. State senator Mary Gant presented Robinson with a Man of the Year plaque and praised him in a speech that had been written by the honoree himself. He’d also put together a six-page press release about his accomplishments, which he distributed to the media. He claimed to have been a medical consultant for more than 165 clinics or other facilities; the press release quoted numerous medical people about his achievements, all of whom would later deny saying these things.
    Nancy Robinson and her four children, along with about fifty local businessmen, came to the event. They all watched as her husband stood up and acted surprised to receive the plaque, then graciously thanked everyone for honoring him in this unexpected way. The Kansas City Times covered the story and its headline stated, “Group for Disabled Honors Area Man.” As soon as the article went into print, the phones started ringing at the Times with howls of indignation from those who’d seemingly supported Robinson for this award.
    The paper quickly discovered that the “honoree” had created the plaque himself, had done the writing promoting himself as a friend of the handicapped, and was behind the entire luncheon and the proclamation from the mayor. Robinson had fabricated everything. The mayor’s office, after learning what had happened, was extremely embarrassed, and the group that had “given” Robinson the award demanded that he cease all contact with them. The Kansas City Times ran a scalding story on Robinson, entitled “Man-of-the-Year Ploy Backfires on ‘Honoree.’” It exposed both his shameless exploitation of the sheltered workshops and his