Hello,

I feel this might come off as a little blithe, but I'm sure you're getting all kinds of mail these days. I just wanted to air a little bit of how I came to know and appreciate Bob Hope. My father is 77 years old and a veteran of World War 2. I don't know if he ever got to see Mr Hope, but I'm sure he enjoyed the USO shows. Considering I'm only 26, I'm well aware that my generation didn't really get to know "the real deal." Which is honestly too bad.

Because my dad greatly enjoyed movies from Hollywood's Golden Age and because he wanted to make sure we kids only had clean entertainment we had to put up with a lot of old-timey movies on the TV instead of the movies our friends were watching. Many times I was tempted to be angry by this but the movies were utterly endearing, and the comedy of Mr Hope, Der Bingle (Bing Crosby), and the glamour of Dorothy Lamour made me see something few of my friends got to. And who can hold a grudge against good old Paleface?

I was especially moved when I read "Don't Shoot! It's Only Me" I laughed out loud at the jokes and was deeply impressed by how his stories really brought home what my dad's generation did for us.

My family recently buried one of my uncles so we have our own quiet tragedy to work through, but it makes me smile to think my uncle Frank and old Ski Nose Hope are yucking it up in heaven. You have my deepest sympathy.

Thanks, always, for the memories.

Nobody