Remember Roy Rogers and Dale Evans? Julie Rogers Pomilia does and is here to tell us their reality and what it was like growing up as their granddaughter. Roy and Dale were the biggest Western duo to hit the screen in days gone by. No one like them. Actually.
Their reach and popularity was enormous. They were second, only to Walt Disney in their merchandising. In the late ‘40s and ‘50s, they had over 400 items with their name or likeness on it. Seemed as though all her toys had grandpa or grandmas faces on them. For her first few years Julie thought all of this was normal. She thought everyone’s grandparents had tv shows.
Indomitable and carefree screen heroes as they were for decades, the reality of their lives is an example of true courage and bravery. Not always carefree but yes on the indomitable. Dale got pregnant and gave birth to a son when she was only 15 (yes the son is Julie’s father), raised him as a single mother, and to and not to be a spoiler, you listen to Julie for the specifics of her grandmother’s strength and love.
Roy and Dale, having weathered several marriages before they found each other, adopted five out of their nine children and suffered the death of three. The one child they had together, a beautiful daughter named Robin was born with Down’s Syndrome. Their reaction when the doctor asked where they wanted to place her is, get a box of Kleenex, the best lesson in being a parent of a special needs child. Dale’s book Angel Unaware, the story of Robin’s short life brought a world of parents with special needs children into their lives. What came next is something to lift your spirits even higher.
Authenticity was foundation of their lives, of their core, and is a quality to be found in their granddaughter Julie whose new book Your Heroes, My Grandparents: A Granddaughter’s Love is a candid loving history of a family and a time etched in so many hearts forever. Like Dale Evans, Julie Pomilia shies away from no issue. To see the light in her eyes, the laughter in her voice and the admiration filling her heart as she talks about her most unusual life with Roy and Dale (and Trigger!) is a joy.
More than Roy and Dale there is the story of Julie, a third grade schoolteacher, serious violist and a bright light herself. Hear how she learned about her own history, about her parents, why she became a teacher, her performances and what she plans to do as a love letter to her three grandchildren. What a gift it will be. Yes, she will pass this history down and down through the generations with a letter in her own hand.