'Tell me who your friends are...'

[p. 85]

Barbara Applegate

Barbara Applegate (86) was from 1958 to 1972 my us lecture manager. Also after I stopped lecturing in the United States we remained in close touch. I visited her with Peter in Washington, and she really became fond of him too. Her letters since then always ended with special greetings to him. When we first met, she was married to the prominent journalist Richard Applegate. During many overseas trips I recorded a number of radio programs for him too. I visited Barbara last in March 2002 in her home in Arlington, Virginia, after her only daughter, Judy Freshman had warned me that her mother had had an unfortunate accident, and had lost an eye. I asked Judy, when she stayed with me in August on her way home from Kenya, to assist in recording her mother's contribution to this book. I knew Barbara for almost half a century. I will never ever forget her. Her sharp views of us politics and her knowledgeable insights in the shady workings of Washington helped me gain a clearer view of our Big Brother at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the nineteen fifties Willem signed a lecture contract with W. Colston Leigh Inc., 521 Fifth Avenue in New York. On one of his speaking tours, he dropped in at our Chicago office. When I introduced myself, he asked, ‘Are you related to Dick Applegate?’

[p. 86]

It turned out, that he had worked with Dick in Singapore. Applegate had also done speaking engagements for W. Colston Leigh. That's how we met and I eventually married Dick. And, now, we were all here in Chicago!

And, so began a relationship with Willem, that spans nearly five decades. He often visited us in Chicago during his travels through the us. Always one for a free place to stay, we became dear friends. He also kept track of my daughter's boyfriends. When Patrice Lumumba was murdered in the Congo, he would play somber requiem music. He regaled us with tales of some of the ladies he met during his lecture tours, that would take him to far away places like Sheboygan, Wisconsin or Corpus Christi, Texas. Some of his experiences truly were hilarious. We always argued politics for hours. Willem has been and continues to be a cherished and loyal friend. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and his passion is legendary. Only Willem could play ‘High Noon’ with the Queen and win! Amazing - but classic Oltmans.

Love, Barbara.