Bob Waldmire-- Part 6 "The Last Original Hippie"

I just noticed that the Tribune spelled Bob's last name differently and I looked it up. I have been spelling his last name wrong allthese years. Sorry about that Bob Waldmire. I guess it is sort of a Cutty Shark thing.


Bob has been holding court at his converted school bus. I loved this quote, "Even if I died ten years ago, I can't imagine having lived a fuller life." I don't know of anyone who has enjoyed what he did more than Bob. "I've been hearing from 66er friends and some people I've never heard of. ...It just brings tears to my eyes. If I'd known it was going to be this good, I'd have gotten sick a long time ago."

Most of the time, Bob was out of touch with people. He definitely was not a member of today's connected folk generation. I doubt that he ever had a cell phone or computer. Route 66ers would pass along word of "Bob sightings."

Pixar, in their "Cars" movie, based Fillmore, the Hippie VW Van voiced by George Carlin, on Bob Waldemire. Originally, the name was to be Waldmire, but when Bob found out it would be a toy at McDonald's, being a vegan, he declined.

President of our Illinois Route 66 Association, Cathie Stevanovich summed it up well when she said, "He's Like the last original hippie." If you ever met him, or saw the VW van, you'd have to agree.

From the November 5th Chicago Tribune.

That Bob, Sure Gonna Miss Him. The Road Just Won't Be the Same. --RoadDog