Roy Rogers - The Touch of Roy and Dale, Volume II

by Tricia Spencer

Tricia Spencer's 2014 book, The Touch of Roy and Dale, Volume II: Personally Told Stories of Lives Changed by Roy Rogers, The King of the Cowboys, and Dale Evans, The Queen of the West is the anticipated sequel to the original 2011 The Touch of Roy and Dale: The Impact and Influence of Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys, and Dale Evans, the Queen of the West, As Only Their Fans Could Tell It. Like the original volume, Volume II is an intimate look at the rippling effect Roy and Dale had on the lives of others, as personally told by family, friends and fans from all over the world.

In keeping with the spirit of Roy's and Dale's legacy, a portion of the proceeds of this book's sales benefits Roy's and Dale's nonprofit charity, The Happy Trails Children's Foundation.

The Rogers children added their voices to the first book. In Volume II, fans get a new perspective from some of Roy's and Dale's grandchildren. In addition to the cornucopia of letters, Roy's and Dale's friends, celebrity co-workers, western poets, songwriters, authors and others penned personal essays for the book. The result is a diverse scrapbook of reflections that is just as much about those who loved Roy and Dale as it is about the legends themselves.

Volume II overflows with nearly 600 photos, most published for the first time, plus an abundance of unusual literary treasures. There are the heartfelt words of former United States Senator, Max Cleland; the vintage Larry Hopper radio transcript of Roy Rogers, Marty Robbins, and Tommy (Snuff) Garrett; the personal recollections of Dale's manager, Dick Baxter; the inside story of the launching of the Roy Rogers Restaurant chain as told by Peter Plamondon, Sr., the man behind the movement; and the entertaining reality-based short story accounts of being a kid actor in Roy's and Dale's films, as told by Patrick Curtis, first known as Baby Beau in Gone With the Wind, just to name a few of the hundreds of people, and the extraordinary stories, represented in the book.