Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Roy Rogers 100th birthday

Well October is gone and November is here. Where has this year gone? I found out that the 5th will mark the 100th birthday of one of my childhood idols, Roy Rogers. Saturday morning was not complete without a half hour spent with Roy, Dale, Pat Brady, Bullet, and of course Trigger. When my mother passed just before my 10th birthday, I had this dream the he and Dale would adopt me. Obviously that didn't happen but he continued to be an influence in my life. In an article written about him just after his death, I read that he quit drinking beer, even when he was out of the media's eye. He was concerned that it might set an example to kids that drinking was okay. Can you imagine a modern entertainer taking a stand like that in their personal life? Roy tried to set the standard that we wanted to believe all cowboys lived up to. Of course it was a standard that very few could actually attain but it was the one you wanted at least try for. Since those days we have taken our heroes and tried our best to turn them into villains but Roy managed to stay above all of that. His image still remains untarnished. While in my writing I try to treat the west honestly not whitewashing, the European settlers, the freed blacks, or the Native Americans who settled the area, I wish that they were all like the world I saw watching Roy Rogers every Saturday morning.

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful post. As a journalist I had the privilege of interviewing Roy twice, and he was everything you and I wanted him to be. For a few minutes I was ten years old, jumping up and down at the theater, and helping Roy capture the bad guys with a pistol that had an unending bullet supply.

    Thanks for the memories, and Happy Trails to you. still miss Roy. I have several Roy stories you might enjoy.

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  2. I actually cried like a kid when I heard that he had passed. The only other entertainers that I can recall making me do that were Chris LeDoux and Rex Allen. I grew up in Colorado Springs and remember going downtown to see Rex and Koko in the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo parade.
    And yes Happy Trails to you too.
    Would love to see your Roy stories.

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