Review: LEARNED A LOT
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 10, 2014
I thought I knew everything about Bob Hope: I'm 59. I've seen replays of his USO tours from several wars, though not his last one.When he went to the middle east, to Desert Storm, no filming was allowed. Since women had to be veiled, they just didn't come. I wonder if they were afraid the wind would blow, show their chins, and start a worse battle than the one we had. I wonder.Hope started his USO tours May 6, 1941, even before the US entered WWII. He performed for troops in training at a base in CA. When the United States was at war, he went to entertain the troops; if the United States was in a police action, ditto. (That's what they called Korea, just after WWII.) And though certain people tried to influence him not to go to Vietnam because they felt it was immoral, he went anyway. There were Americans in muddy, bloody uniforms, far away from home-how could he not go?The second thing I knew about Bob Hope was his lengthy marriage. Boy, did I get a kick in the skull!! Delores Hope was wife number two. Yes, they still had a long, long marriage, but things were not always happy in the Hope household. If I read those stupid newspapers by the checkout line, I might have known that, but I don't like gossip and I don't believe the idiot stories on the front pages of those papers.I guess all that matters is that Bob always went home to Delores and she was always willing to take him back. Their children might have had something to do with that.Yes, children! I didn't know about them either, but you'll have to read if you want detail.And I knew about his golfing addiction; I'm married to a golf addict myself. He's on the course now. It was 43 degrees this morning and it rained yesterday, so the golf cart has to stay on the path today. He'll have to walk to where the ball lands, but he doesn't care: he's an addict. He's even hit 2 hole-in-one's in his life, all witnessed.But Bob Hope has golf tournaments named after him. He once played in a foursome with three remarkably important men, probably the only time these guys had ever gotten together on a golf course. And I bet they only did so because Bob asked.And of course, there's Bob's acting career: all those 'Road' pictures. Personally, I liked Paleface better than any of them, but that's just my opinion. Still, there's a lot to be said for the rapport Hope and Crosby had.Which brings me to the end. All of us have one. When Bob Hope left this world a certain newspaper printed an appropriate cartoon on their op-ed page, a cartoon that brings both a tear and a smile: should I tell you?This time I think I will: Bing Crosby welcoming Bob Hope to Heaven.You know I've left out a great deal: Hope's boxing career (no joke), his experiences in vaudeville, introducing silent movies, how he made the transitions in his career, why he became a survivor, or maybe that's how he became a survivor.In any case, this is a wonderful book.