When author Tricia Spencer acquired 40,000 pieces of fan mail from the Rogers' estate, she discovered much more than typical fan adulation. Nestled amidst never-before-seen photos, poetry, art and songs were amazing personal Roy and Dale stories. The 1990s letters were written when Roy and Dale began facing health challenges, and in spite of it being nearly a half a century beyond their Hollywood heyday, fans rallied to express just how much their American heroes had influenced and altered the paths of their lives. Additionally, Ms. Spencer invited Roy and Dale's children, family friends, western silver screen stars, western authors, and others to pen their own personal essays for The Touch of Roy and Dale: The Impact and Influence of Roy Rogers, The King of the Cowboys, and Dale Evans, The Queen of the West, As Only Their Fans Could Tell It. In Volume II, (The Touch of Roy and Dale, Volume II: Personally Told Stories of Lives Changed by Roy Rogers, The King of the Cowboys, and Dale Evans, The Queen of the West, CONTINUE), readers hear from even more fans, including those who wrote while on active duty in the military, plus stories from some of Roy's and Dale's grandchildren. There are also essays by other authors, western poets and songwriters, and many celebrated folks like Senator Max Cleland, Dick Baxter (Dale's manager), Patrick Curtis (Gone With the Wind's Baby Beau), and Peter Plamondon, Sr. (the man behind the Roy Rogers Restaurants chain), just to name a few. Volume II boasts nearly 600 private collection photos, as well as more never-before-seen poetry, art and songs. Many words have been devoted to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, but never before have those words been gathered into the revelation that is The Touch of Roy and Dale and The Touch of Roy and Dale, Volume II. Ideal for all generations, both books easily answer the question: What is a hero? Roy and Dale's greatest accomplishment was never their celebrity. As the collective voices of this Volume II book so poignantly, sometimes humorously, sometimes rawly, reveal, it was their uncommon and generous humanity that made them heroes. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book benefits Roy and Dale's charity, The Happy Trails Children's Foundation.
