No living person more embodies the sense of the place that is Palm Springs than the Cowboy Mayor Frank Bogert. Frank, born in Colorado in 1910, came to Palm Springs in 1927 as a wrangler. Frank managed the Racquet Club for Charlie Farrell, undeniably the king of early Palm Springs decadence. Racquet Club membership included Gloria Swanson, William Powell, Judy Garland, Rock Hudson Douglas Fairbanks, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Al Jolsen, Bob Hope and Marilyn Monroe. Palm Springs continues to be a favored escape for Hollywood movie stars.
Frank served as mayor of Palm Springs from 1958-1966 and 1982-1990, a total of 16 years. On March 3, 2005 Mayor Ron Oden declared Frank, mayor emeritus of Palm Springs. Frank has written two books:
Palm Springs, First 100 Years and
View from the Saddle.
One early afternoon in late June, this writer had the privilege to meet Frank at his home in Palm Springs. It was a completely unassuming home for an equally egalitarian man. I spent a totally enjoyable hour with Frank discussing our writing and other careers, his mastered and mine fledgling. His opening remarks to me were that he had read Gun Play and, so far, he had only found one mistake. In Gun Play, I had written that the fountain at the airport had a concrete circular parapet. He corrected me that it truly was made of tile.
In our time together, the most significant impression I had of this man was his regard for all the citizens of Palm Springs that he had served, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, and the residents of elegant desert castles and the homeless desert hermits. I look forward to another visit. Soon.