In his later life, when Jim Rogers was asked to reflect upon his father, Will Rogers, he said, “We grew up with two men: WR and Dad.”

WR, of course, was the man in the limelight, the hardworking, consummate performer and communicator.

Dad was the gentle, beloved father of Will, Jr., Mary, Jim, and Fred, who died as an infant.

“My parents were ideal,” Jim Rogers said. “One of the truest things Dad ever said was, ‘The day I roped Betty was the greatest performance of my life.’ And that’s true. If it had not been for Betty Blake from Rogers, Arkansas, there never would have been the Will Rogers much of the world knew and loved.”

At age twenty-nine, Will’s marriage to Betty was a renewal of the foundation that had launched him. A growing career became a booming success with the warmth and wisdom of a loving, advising and inspiring wife.