In person and in print, Talbert never lost his over-large personality or contact with his roots. And he still pronounced 'Bob' as though it were a multisyllabic word. He wrote that when he proposed to his first wife, Beryl, she said she'd marry him if he lost 100 pounds. By the time he moved to Detroit in 1968, he had done that, and stopped drinking as well. He frequently used his column to encourage other people who struggled with the same problems, especially alcoholism.
Most writers draw the line somewhere.
He never drew the line. Readers heard about his divorce and got to know Talbert's second wife, Lynn, who was one of the guest columnists when he took time off. Then followed these children through Dafna's marriage and Jason's becoming a physician. Most lately they'd been reading about Talbert's adored new grandchildren, Robin Madison, Reed Harrison and Ross William. The range of Talbert's enthusiasm could be surprising.