Bogie's Bike

Bogie's Bike is a memoir about life in the background, as told by a former teenage Hollywood extra who became a publicist to the stars. From an early fascination with HOLLYWOODLAND, the big white sign he saw out his bedroom window as a boy, to a smile from Betty Grable when he was ten, encounters and friendships with U. S. Presidents and World War II heroes, to being thanked at the Academy Awards by Best Actor Anthony Hopkins, and last but first, his wife Nancy, this is the story of those all-too-human foibles, growing up and sometimes just growing, the hard way. Bob's story is the story of show business as he meets Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Claudette Colbert, Tyrone Power. Robert Young, Shirley Temple, Ronald Reagan. Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz, among many others, and forms lasting relationships with Dick Van Dyke, Anthony Hopkins, Joan Crawford, Truman Capote, Robert Young and Michele Lee, to name a few. Bob believes in them all, often more than he believes in himself. His life is threatened by drinking, drugs and a toxic attitude. Fired from one publicity job after another, he enters a period of heavy substance abuse before finally accepting the help of others within the entertainment industry. The story of Bob and Nancy's enduring love through an "impossible," chaotic and at times hilarious marriage forms the most personal element. Praise for Bogie's Bike: "Bob's observances continue to amuse and touch me because they come from places in the background, describing without sentimentality the all-too-human foibles of life, from childhood to maturity." -Anthony Hopkins "The wonder of Bob Palmer's uncommonly charming, sprinkled-with-stardust memoir isn't that he really did all these things, but that he possessed the enviable capacity to look back on his experiences with such merciful affection, to love the boy he was, in order to accept the man he'd become. A lesson we'd all do well to learn." -Peter Dunne "Bob was my close friend and confidante for 45 years. He stood by me and was my main support through the hardest struggle of my life. I dearly miss our long talks, his wisdom, his heart and loving care he gave to so many. Much of what I came to understand through him, is in the pages of this book." -Dick Van Dyke "A look into the personal side of the great stars - from an outsider who became an insider, who looked inside. Poignant, touching and very funny." -Michele Lee