A book to get you back in saddle

Roy Rogers was born Leonard Franklin Slye in a Cincinnati tenement building on Nov. 5, 1911. Years later, when the tenement was demolished to make way for Riverfront Stadium, Rogers joked to friends that he had been born at second base.

Shortly after his 18th birthday, Rogers moved to California. After several lean years, he formed a singing group, Sons of the Pioneers. They made a series of recordings that were fairly successful. In 1935, Slye made his first screen appearance as a supporting player in a Gene Autry film. Three years later, when Autry walked out on a film project, Slye was hired and his name changed to Roy Rogers.

He was an immediate hit. He married Dale Evans in 1935, and although they made several popular films together, it was their work on television during the 1950s that truly made them famous. From 1951 to 1957, Roy, Dale, Trigger, Bullet and an assortment of sidekicks were featured each week in episodes of “The Roy Rogers Show.”

Raymond E. White, a professor emeritus at Ball State University, has written an entertaining and informative biography of these two American icons. Part narrative, part reference, this meticulously researched book includes extensive bibliographies, discographies, TV appearances and even logs of their radio broadcasts.

White has unearthed a wealth of material, all underscoring both the breadth and longevity of these two remarkable people. This book is an absolute must for historians, collectors and anyone who wants to know more about the King of the Cowboys and the Queen of the West.