DALE ROBERTSON...one of the good guys

Dale Robertson is one of my all time favorite western stars. I met Dale several times over the years but the last time was at the pre-Golden Boots party at The Sportsmen's Lodge in 2006 Dale was always one of the first celebrities to arrive at the pool-side party (he'd book a room on the ground floor right next to the pool) and on this particular date I was one of the first "regular" persons to be there. (I'd arrive early and hold a table for the rest of the Leone Mafia.) Dale was scooting around on a scooter (the 3-wheeled kind) as he was having trouble getting around on foot and suddenly he headed over to me and said, It's almost like riding a horse." I was kind of surprised that out of the blue he had talked to me (but he was that kind of person) and I said..."er, but you don't have to feed it and clean up after it." He thought that was pretty funny. We did some small talk and then I pulled out two old TV Guides that I had brought with me that him on the cover. I showed them to him and he smiled the biggest smile I had seen in some time and said, "Want me to autograph them for you, son." I then said, " I would love to have your autograph, Mr. Robertson." "Call me, Dale, " he said. I gave one of the Guides to him and he humbly thanked me for it and then autographed the one pictured below. His last words to me were, "Nice talking to you, son. See you later." ...and with that he turned the scooter around and went back to his room. Still had his big head of hair...not black anymore....almost white . What a great guy.