Route 66 enthusiast Ron Hart interviewed Mother Road hippie and artist Bob Waldmire for about 30 minutes during the National Route 66 Festival in Clinton, Okla., in 2007.
Hart said he’d misplaced the video until recently, and decided to post it online this week. It’s a fairly typical (if unpredictable) conversation with Bob that’s sometimes delightful, sometimes eerie. Less than three years later, Waldmire would be dead of cancer.
I’m really glad this is out here. When Waldmire was diagnosed with his terminal illness last year, I lamented that there were so few videos of him. It was nobody’s fault, really. Waldmire led a gypsy existence, and no one knew when or where he would show up. So, barring the rare someone who carried a video camera at all times, roadies seldom ever got the chance of getting Waldmire down on tape.
Now, this clip gives us the chance to relive him when he was healthy, happy and utterly unique.
Thanks Ron for taking the time to chronicle this rewind for all of us Route 66 fans. Bob Waldmire sure was a character, he was as real as it gets. I feel closer to him and his favorite road.