Happy birthday, Bob Kerrey.

Bob Kerrey was born on August 27, 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has been a fine example of a famous Nebraskan. He grew up in Nebraska and graduated from Northeast High School. He went to the University and became a pharmacist.

Kerrey then became a Navy Seal during the Vietnam war. He was an owner of several restaurants in Nebraska and then became a politician.

He was our 35th governor from 1983 to 1987 and our US Senator from 1989 until 2001. He ran for president in 1992. He and Chuck Hagel were senators at the same time and they made me proud to see them on the political shows. Rarely have we seen Nebraskans in that light.

In 1999, I took two of my nephews to the Nebraska Breakfast in Washington, D.C. This has been a tradition for many years that Nebraskans could have breakfast and meet with our members of Congress on Tuesday mornings. One of my nephews, age 14 at the time, so wanted to meet our Senator Kerrey. After the breakfast, Bob took pictures with some of his fans. My nephew wanted a picture and I took one with him. My nephew had son glasses in the neck of his FBI t-shirt. Bob took them out and had him put them on and Bob put his on. That picture of the "Blues Brothers" has been a treasured picture and memory for my nephew and for me. I'll always be a fan of Bob Kerrey's for this reason alone.

In my opinion, it was a sad day for Nebraska when Kerrey decided to leave the US Senate.

He became the president of New York's New School in 2002.

Bob Kerrey was honored with the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs.

Happy Birthday, Bob.

Nebraska Nellie

Hoot Gibson

Edmund Richard Gibson was born in Tekamah, Nebraska on August 6, 1892. He learned to ride a horse while very young. His family moved to California. He worked on a ranch with horses. He was given the nickname "Hoot Owl" which was eventually shortened to "Hoot".

In 1910, a director hired him along with some other cowboys for a short film. He became a silent film actor, mostly in westerns. I remember hearing Granny and Jed talk about Hoot Gibson in the moving pictures they liked on The Beverly Hillbillies. They liked the silent movies.

Hoot died at age 70 in August, 1962.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy 99th birthday, Robert Taylor.

Robert Taylor would turn 99 years old today. He is a favorite actor of mine and the first of my collection of famous Nebraskans memorabilia.

Taylor was born as Spangler Arlington Brugh on this day in 1911 in Filley, Nebraska. His mother was not a healthy woman and his father became a doctor to care for her. Taylor grew up and graduated high school in Beatrice, Nebraska. The family lived in three different homes in Beatrice. He attended Doane College for two years studying music. He was in a quartet where he played the cello. He moved to California to continue studying with the professor from Doane. He started acting in some college plays.

MGM hired him as a contract player. He was a leading man with many of Hollywood's leading ladies. He was married to Barbara Stanwyck. They later divorced.

He married Ursulla Theiss, an actress who came to the United States from Germany. Together they had two children, Terry Taylor and Tessa Taylor.

Jane Ellen Wayne wrote his biography, The Man with the Perfect Face. I loved the book. Linda Alexander also wrote a book, The Reluctant Witness. This book tells the story about Taylor testifying before Congress in Joseph McCarthy's search for communists. Please buy it and read it. Alexander also has a website on Robert Taylor. http://roberttaylormoviestar.wetpaint.com/

I enjoy his many movies and watch them on TCM. This blog today is only a small amount of information about Robert Taylor. Read more.

Happy Birthday, Robert Taylor.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy birthday, Clara Colby.

Clara Dorothy Bewick Colby was born on August 5, 1846 in Gloucestershire, England. Clara Bewick Colby was a feminist and woman's suffragist for over forty years. She described equal rights, "it's a matter of simple justice."

She came to the United States in 1865 with her maternal grandparents settling in Windsor, Wisconsin. She fought to be allowed a college degree because women weren't allowed to get such an education.

Eventually she married Leonard Colby and they adopted three children, including a native American child brought home from a battle by her husband. Leonard Colby was a lawyer and divorced Clara. Divorce laws were very much in favor of men at that time.

She became friends with leading suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and wrote a national suffrage newspaper, The Women's Tribune, out of our own Beatrice, Nebraska. I am fascinated that such a newspaper was published in my home town.

Clara Colby is a very interesting person and I hope you will read more.

Happy birthday to you, Clara.

Nebraska Nellie