Getting People to Care: Author James Robinson visits Eaglebrook

“I think I only have one job, and that job is to get people to care,” shared James Robinson, author of the memoir Whale Eyes, as he spoke to the Eaglebrook community during the first Hilly Chase Speaker Series of the school year.

 

In addition to being an author, James is a video producer for The New York Times. At Eaglebrook, he spoke about his book, but also about the concept he calls “out-trigue”, like intrigue, it begins with curiosity, he explained, but instead of drawing you in, it pushes you away. Often leaving you unsettled, confused, or even a bit disgusted.

 

James knows this feeling well. Diagnosed at a young age with strabismus and alternating exotropia, a condition that causes his eyes to be misaligned, he often faced awkward interactions that led him to ignore his difference for most of his childhood. In his senior year of college, however,  he had a revelation: “If I wanted to get people to care about this difference of mine, then difference was not going to be the solution.” He realized he needed to change the story.

 

James eventually began referring to his condition as “whale eyes.” “As soon as you are born into an ocean of difference,” he explained, “people try to fish you out.” Too often, he noted, society spends energy teaching those who are different how to feel “normal,” rather than asking the “normal” majority to rethink their assumptions. “I don’t have a problem with how I see,” James told the audience. “I have a problem with the way in which I am seen.”

 

By flipping the narrative, James challenged common portrayals of disability. Stories in the media often frame disability in terms of triumph and overcoming adversity. But, he argued, it isn’t people with disabilities who need to be fixed—it’s the discomfort of others that needs to be challenged.

 

To illustrate, James shared a bittersweet story from his childhood. At six years old, unable to read like his peers, he pretended during “silent reading” time. It wasn’t until a classmate pointed out that his book was upside down that his teacher realized James needed help. That memory later inspired his memoir, Whale Eyes. The book invites readers into his world in playful but powerful ways, asking them to read upside down, follow words that twist and turn across the page so they can experience, even briefly, what it feels like to see differently.

 

He also encouraged the audience to reconsider the meaning of protection. Too often, he said, protection of people with disabilities is equated with weakness. Yet when a football player puts on heavy padding, the same word—protection—signals strength. “I wish when I was younger, I knew what the word protection really meant,” James reflected. “It means to protect, not to diminish.”

 

James has built his career by leaning into “out-trigue.” “There is so much value in leaning in when things are uncomfortable,” he said. His advice to the students was simple: lean out. Seek out people who might make you uncomfortable. On the other side of that discomfort, he promised, are connection and friendship.

At the close of the talk, Dr. Lyden asked James how we might lean out more effectively—how to acknowledge differences with respect. James’s response was thoughtful: it depends on the moment and the environment. Respect, he reminded us, is not one-size-fits-all; it requires presence, awareness, and a genuine willingness to see the person in front of you. He encouraged the Eaglebrook community to view difference not as something to overcome, but as a doorway to deeper understanding.