On July 24, 1997, my wife, Marsha, and I had the chance to meet Grace Bradley Boyd, aka Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy. Anybody who has followed the series I have done over the years, from the Black Panther to Morbius, the Living Vampire to Detectives Inc. has seen little tributes to Hoppy, the cowboy dressed in black. I can't imagine exactly who I would be if Hoppy hadn't been a part of my life. I never thought I was Hoppy when I was a kid. I just wanted to know Hoppy.

And I still would like to live up to the things Hoppy was about:
You give your word, you don't need no stinking contracts, you don't need no lawyers, you do what you say, you keep your word.

If a friend is in trouble, and you can help, you do what you can.

You don't look the other way because there's something you don't want to see.

So, that afternoon was one of the treasured experiences of my life.

(Click on the images above for a larger view)

When you go in to do an interview, you have no idea if you will have 5 minutes of the person's time, a half hour, more, or what. Grace hadn't done many interviews, and there had been so many historically inaccurate stories about the making of the Hopalong Cassidy movies, and of the man who played him, William Boyd, that I thought the record should be set straight by the person who was there, who would know best.

Grace was an incredible story-teller, and I was glad she shared so many stories with me.

I'm still hesitant to call her. I don't want to intrude. And yet, she always makes you feel welcome.

You should know that in the 1950s the only comparison you could make to how popular Hoppy was is to look at something like the Star Wars phenomenon.

In terms of movie series, James Bond has hit 20 films, but Hoppy holds the record, of an actor playing a single character.

There are 66 Hoppy movies, and here is where you can get them:

www.hopalong.com/default.asp

Unfortunately, the magazine which this appeared in, WESTERN ATTITUDES, only lasted one issue. The four parts would have been, pre-Hoppy, the movie years, the television years, and what happened afterwards, all the incredible stories, all the untold truths that were lifted from book to book.

Our hope is to do a GRACE BRADLEY BOYD COMMEMORATIVE ALBUM in time for the HOPALONG CASSIDY FESTIVAL 2000 in his home town in Ohio, where Grace will be.

If you'd like to see such an album, e-mail JERRY ROSENTHAL at the Hoppy locale, and let him know.

Or let me know, and I'll pass it on to him.

Now, go enjoy the pages, as well.

And if you look on the DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS page, you might even see Hoppy there!

Happy trails!

And hang in there!