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Show Dutch Gassidv: TIig facte behind flio Sanond jle wasn't killed at the shootout In Bolivia! ' Robert LeRoy Parker, alias Butch Cassldy, returned return-ed from South America to live in the United States. In j-4r later years, he arranged a covert reunion with his family to visit with tliem and tell them his side of the story. Facts about this legendary outlaw have been weeded of fallacies and vividly descrilied by Batch's sister, Lula Parker Bet-. Bet-. enson in her took, "Butch Cassidy, My Brother". A publication of Bingham rrr-?r4 Young University Press, the book is available at the COUNTY NEWS office for the price of $7.95. It contains con-tains 2GT) pages and G5 photos, many of which have 5rVr ynVfWir tV- never been published until now. The prestigious PUBLISHERS PUB-LISHERS WEEKLY review-ed review-ed the took and stated: "Reading this rustic, in- participant, she enjoys a heated political contest. At eighty-three she went to work at theClrcleville Information In-formation Bureau, where, on three occasions, people told her they had come to Circle -ville because they were relatives of Butch Cassidy. Each time she replied, "Well, you should surely know me. I'm his sister." They didn't tarry long. During the filming of Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid, Lula was Invited to come on location in St. George and meet the stars, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. In New Haven, Connecticut, she attended the movie premier as a guest. After an exciting and somtimes trying ninety-two years, she says, "There's one thing I fear; I don't want to grow old." genuous memoir is like cozylng up to a crackling fire with an old-timer's tale . . .Many quotes from letters and interviews with some who know Cassidy, plus a nostalgic foreword by Robert Redford help establish a base of reality to this sweetly biased but 'alive' portrait." In her own words and in rare photographs, Lula t Parker Betenson tells all she knows about her brother, "Bob." In its own way, the saga of the real Butch Cassidy is ultimately more fascinating than any fictions f created about him in novels or films. ( Books written about Butch f Cassidy have been replete with errors borrowed back and forth from one author f to another, mixed with the legends handed down by word f of mouth, and embellished f to spin a more sensational tale. The stories became wilder and wilder. He was given credit for robberies which were committed at ( almost the same time, but many hundreds of miles apart, in the days of horse -f back travel. As Lula says, "He would have needed wings and we know he was no f angel." For over forty years, sworn to silence, Lula " Parker Betenson listened to the controversy about her brother. At last she decided to tell her story of Butch Cassidy. She tells of Robert X LeRoy Parker, her brother. f She reveals Intimate family details the pleadingpray-X. pleadingpray-X. ers of her mother that her U outlaw son would come home safely and go straight, the X Parkers' care and adoration of all their children, and, of course, the lively de- scriptions of "Bob's" f friendly, singular charm and his interest in people the t struggling people which f won for him their protection from the law. Lula Parker Betenson is f now 92 years old and living in Circleville, Utah. She I grew up in picturesque f Circle Valley with her thirteen thir-teen brothers and sisters. She toured Utah and Idaho with the Walters Theatrical Stock Company. On New t Year's Eve in 1907, she mar- ried Joseph A. Betenson. After Jose's death in 1948, 4 Lula became active . in f politics, numbering among her activities messenger in the Utah House of Represen-f Represen-f tatives for part of a term, and Democratic Chairwoman ( for Piute County for twenty -s five years. Still an active |
