Gypsy Boots (August 19, 1914 – August 8, 2004), born Robert Bootzin (and also known as Boots Bootzin), was an American fitness pioneer, actor, and writer. He is credited with laying the foundation for the acceptance by mainstream America of "alternative" lifestyles such as yoga and health food. His books Barefeet and Good Things to Eat and the memoir, The Gypsy in Me, gained him a cult following.

Biography

Bootzin was born in San Francisco, California to Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father, Max, was a broom salesman. His mother, Mushka, raised Bootzin and his four siblings in a vegetarian household, while also leading the family on hikes in the hills, performing Russian folk dances and feeding the homeless with her homemade black bread.

Bootzin's older brother, John, died of tuberculosis as a young man; this led to Bootzin's decision to grow his hair long and pursue healthful, natural living.

By 1933, he had dropped out of high school and left home to wander California with a group of self-styled vagabonds. In the 1940s, Bootzin, along with 10-15 other "tribesmen," lived off the land in Tahquitz Canyon near Palm Springs, slept in caves and trees, and bathed in waterfalls. Decades ahead of the Hippie movement, Bootzin and his companions lived a carefree existence and were seasonal fruit pickers. The group became known as "Nature Boys".

The 1948 Nat King Cole hit "Nature Boy" was inspired by Bootzin and his fellow "tribesman", and composed by fellow tribesman eden ahbez.

In 1958, Bootzin married Lois Bloemker, a conservative, academic woman from Fort Wayne, Indiana and settled in the Hollywood area. They had three children, Daniel, Alex and Freddie (who died in 2001). The two divorced in the late 1990s.

His health food store "Health Hut" was one of the first of its kind in the world (if not the first), and was patronized by dozens of Hollywood celebrities in the early 1960s. The original Health Hut, located on Beverly Blvd just west of La Cienega Blvd, had an authentic "Tiki" style to it made with leaves and bamboo.

Bootzin personally advocated never eating meat, drinking alcohol, or smoking tobacco. He was an early believer in the health properties of organic foods. One of these organic foods was garlic—and he later became a spokesperson for the "Kyolic" variety. He also did work for a Sonoma cheese factory. He would often have a garlic-spiced cheese, "Sonoma Jack," at his booth at health festivals and fairs in Sonoma Valley," along with his all-natural, sugar-free "Boots Bars", wheat grass, spirulina, and kyolic garlic, as well as "honey sweet" Medjoule dates from his orchard.

His childhood vegetarian lifestyle was something Bootzin continued with his own family as his son Daniel Bootzin corroborated.


When friends came over, Bootzin said his parents offered the guests fresh carrot juice, a novelty in the 1960s.

Bootzin died in Camarillo, California, just 11 days short of his 90th birthday. He was survived by his former wife, Lois Bootzin, two of his sons Daniel and Alexander, three grandchildren, and a sister. His son Freddy died in 2001.