Ruthie Robbins

Ruthie (Dines) Robbins is an author, musician, and award-winning educator who splits her time between her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, and Buffalo, NY. On the Rocks: The Primadonna Story is Ruthie’s first published co-authored book. A “Rocks” girl herself, Ruthie grew up on the street in which the Primadonna Restaurant was located. Her life has been intertwined in a way that seems like writing this book with restaurateur Joe Costanzo’s daughter Maria was destiny. She was one of Joe’s first customers when he was only serving a dozen dinners a night. Years later she became Maria’s English teacher in middle and high school, and the connections get uncanny from there. Ruthie’s “fifteen minutes of [Pittsburgh] fame” (Warhol) came when she wrote a middle school interdisciplinary unit for Kennywood Park’s 100th Anniversary with teacher and friend June Henry. Still teaching in Buffalo, NY, Ruthie is now married to her high school sweetheart, Jay Robbins. With three sons, two stepsons, and six grandchildren among them, Ruthie’s heart is overflowing with gratitude for the blessings in her life. She is looking to publish four other books—Nuttered Boodles (a children’s book with an anti-bullying theme), This Is a Playroom; Words Are the Toys (a book about teaching), and Dreams I’ll Never See, a romance in which music is raised to the level of a character, and the newest, Miss Othmar Tells All, a hilarious middle-school novel told from the teacher’s point of view.