Movie Classic (Sep 1936-Feb 1937)

appreciate whatever he got, by earning it. Bob was always so good about writing, telling us everything that he was doing. (I would be kind of scared now to go away. Last summer, when I went East for a visit, I would never have known what was happening, if his Filipino boy had not written to me.) Once in a while, in his letters, he would mention some girl. Doane was coed, and he liked several girls there. But as for his getting serious about any of them, I do not think so. He was always very sensible when it came to girls, not one to fall for flattery. He was troubled at that time, trying_ to decide what he wanted to do with his life. We never influenced him in any way. We would tell him, "You have your own life to lead, just as we have ours. It is up to you to decide." We never urged him to become a doctor. ABOUT half-way through his Sophomore l year, we received a remarkable letter from him. He told us that he did not want us to think that he was fickle in his ambitions. But he had decided that he did not want just a liberal arts education. He would miss terribly not becoming the sort of man that his father was, trying to follow in his footsteps. So he thought that he had better drop out of Doane and go to Kirksville. He felt that his father had been so good to him that he wanted to repay him by being as much like him as possible. It would probably take him eight years to become a doctor, and he thought he had better get busy and start work. He was going to be a general practitioner, but take up orthopedic surgery as a sideline. We treasured that letter. We had always felt that we had an unusual boy, but this was the climax of proof. Robert was always in his father's office a great deal as a boy, and went with him on some calls out in the country. One time he even assisted his father in an emergency operation on an injured farmer. He had always seemed interested in his father's work. (I think that is why he takes the part of a doctor so easily, so convincingly.) But we felt that he was too young to be positive that he wanted to devote his life to medicine. We persuaded him to wait until he had finished college before he decided definitely. At the end of Bob's Sophomore year, Professor Gray accepted an offer to go to Pomona College, in Pomona, California — and Bob was offered Professor Gray's post at Doane, even though he still was a student. He came home to ask us if he should accept. And among the three of us, we came to an unexpected decision — which changed the whole course of his life. We decided that he should transfer to Pomona. Professor Gray had told us at great length about Pomona, which had a high scholastic rating and was a much larger college than Doane. The doctor and I believed that a larger college might be more beneficial for Robert. We felt that, in a little college, he did not have enough competition. At Doane, he had everything his own way — in oratory, music, acting, singing. We felt that he was not getting the right preparation for life. It would be hard, seeing him go so far away — but, again, we knew that we could trust him. Also, his friend, Professor Gray, would be there to advise him ; and nearby, in San Bernardino, was my husband's former partner, Dr. Gass, who would watch out for him. So Bob applied for admission to Pomona, was accepted, and prepared to start for California, driving his own car out. His father and I never thought at that time of the nearness of Hollywood to Pomona. Neither did Bob. (To be continued) Movie Classic for October, 1936 65