My Friendship with "Bobby" Redford and LOADS of Laughs!

I have been looking for laughter these days as I heal from my prosthetic knee surgery in August 2010.  It has been a long and painful recovery and I know that LAUGHTER is the medicine of life.  Needing to laugh made me remember my childhood with Robert Redford.  I grew up with Bob or "Bobbie" (as I knew him), from kindergarten to junior high school in Brentwood, West Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CA.
 
He always made all of us laugh with his jokes and antics.  Bob lived very close to me in West Los Angeles, CA and we all hung out together.  We played baseball in the vacant lots, swimming in my pool and water skiing in Lake Arrowhead, CA with my friend Pat and Bob's brother, Bill (who I later dated in college).
 
"Bobbie", as I knew him, was a cute freckled face red head with plenty of energy and full of adventure and mischief.  He loved climbing mountains which led him and his brother Bill, to climb the Fox Movie Theater spiral ...... many stories high and of course illegal.  They never got caught.  I can remember him in the 6th grade in Brentwood Elementary School in CA.  We had ink wells in our desks (yes, ink wells....no ball point pens).  Bobbie would put the girls pig tails in the ink well.......that was a good laugh.  We also used to shoot the rubber bands from our braces at the black board where they would stick and then fall to the floor.  Of course the teacher's back was turned to the class so we never got caught.  I think Bobbie was part of the plan to lift the wig off of our teacher's head, Mrs. Huff, as she was going down the stairs of our bungalow  ...... but I am not 100 percent sure of that one.
 
We went onto four years at Emerson Jr. High School in Westwood, CA with many parties and fun times.  I then went to University High School in Santa Monica CA and Bob moved to San Fernando Valley, CA and attended  Van Nuys High School. This is where we we went in different directions and I lost contact with him.  I went to the University of Southern California studying commercial art (technical illustrating) and Bob went to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CO on a baseball scholarship.
 
In 1963, my first husband, our 2 and 1/2 year old daughter and I were wiped out in the break of the Baldwin Hill Dam in Inglewood CA.  We were also bankrupt. So in 1964 my husband and daughter moved to South Bend, Indiana to try and put our lives back together.  In 1965 we were transferred to Princeton N.J.  In 1965 or 1966 I came to Los Angeles, CA to visit my parents. 

I ran into Bob in the L.A. International Airport.  He saw me and I saw him and we both yelled "Petie.......Bobbie" and gave each other a big hug.  That is when I learned he was an actor.  He told me that he was on Broadway in "Barefoot In The Park" with Elizabeth Ashley!  Wow! I was speechless and thrilled.  I had been so out of the loop I had no idea.  That was a moment to remember forever, my introduction to Robert Redford's career.
 
My life moved on and I remarried and moved to Colorado Springs, CO with my husband Bob and son Thomas, who I have written about previously here related to his developmental disabilities.  I had read in the paper in 1990 that Redford was coming to the Springs to head the Enviromental Film Festival.  So I wrote him and said that I would love to see him.  He responded with a letter which read "Something about reaching the half century mark has brought ghost out of many closets.  Yours is certainly a happy one.  My memories of you are a delight -- generous, energetic and a lovely family with high values.  I remember swimming in your pool more than you did probably, and many fun times with Bill.  Your life sounds productive and fulfilling.  You were wise to move out of L.A.  I did that 35 years ago and don't regret it.  I live in Utah and N.Y"...........He went on to tell me about his family and their lives.  He did not come to C.S. for the Film Festival but through his thoughtful words, he brought a BIG smile to my face then as it does today.
 
In 1994 I answered an ad in the L.A. Times that my sister-in-law told me about.  "Information sought. Author Michael Fenny Callan is currently working on his 14th book, a biography/filmography on Robert Redford.  Callan is now conducting interviews and would like to speak to any of Redford's fellow workers and friends, especially those who knew him as a child in Santa Monica or when he attended Van Nuys High School."  He gave his phone number in Ireland and said to call collect.  I called and hence began a 16 year relationship with Michael on the phone, e-mails and letters. I sent Michael all of the pictures and information that could help him write the book about Redford....such as maps of Santa Monica, Westwood, school pictures and names and addresses of our classmates so he could contact them.
 
Michael e-mailed me recently and told me the book is coming out May 3rd.  I was thrilled that Michael had completed this enormous job and that I could help.  As I said before LAUGHTER is healing! As is contributing to something that helps others.  I am honored that "Bobbie" made me laugh and still does when I fondly look back at my childhood memories.  A healing experience that brings a smile to my face.
 
:)  Petie....the OTR