How dear is this photo (below) to me. To think I was so privileged to have known and worked with that little boy on Rudy's lap. To think he would be the one to push me to find the court records and the one who analyzed them so meticulously. Robert Warren Ullman was an entertaining and interesting man. He was proud of his Navy service, proud of his success as a tennis pro, and proud of his many years as a mortgage banker.
He did not like anything Hollywood because of what it did to his father. He made a point of saying that. He had read all the Rudy bios and had to know the truth about his father. When I met Bob they told me he had two months to live. But he lived two more years and long enough to read the final chapter of Affairs Valentino two weeks before his passing. I spoke at his memorial service.
Bob loved orchids which filled his home's beautiful patio. He was a no nonsense man, a stickler for details which I guess is what would make someone a good banker.
I have my Bob Ullman memories.
One: After his first read of the court records (all 1000 pages) he said, "Who were these judges?" And he commented on Alberto's suing his Dad as, "a hyena biting the hand that was feeding him". Those two comments stuck in my mind.
Two: He used the tiniest font in his e-mails that I have even seen any one use. His last e-mail to me, in tiny letters read, "Better get down here sooner than later."
I say in tribute to the beautiful little toddler in the photo below...on that magical day sitting on Uncle Rudy's lap... I thank you for your magnificent contributions to the Valentino history. Uncle Rudy would be proud.
*I had to add Bunny to this "High Integrity" post. She had not read all the Valentino bios, but her mother lived with her for the last years of her life and she heard all the stories.
