Julie Rogers Pomilia, Granddaughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

We were introduced to Julie Rogers Pomilia, the granddaughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, by past guest Cindy Mitchum Azbill, the niece of actor Robert Mitchum. It’s so cool when a guest will call a friend and tell them about the podcast and suggest they come on.

Why was I double happy about Julie coming on the podcast? One, she is a recommendation and two, I was the kid at Christmas that wanted Santa to bring me the fancy Roy Rogers cowboy outfit. It had to have either a red or blue shirt with white or black fringe, Roy Rogers gloves with fringe and RR branding, big cowboy hat and a two gun holster. I would tuck the fancy fringed pants into my shiny boots and pretend I was a famous cowboy like Roy Rogers with a horse as beautiful as Trigger. I did not however pretend to be a singing cowboy, because as my wife says, I am NOT known for my singing.

With Julie, I find talking to grandchildren a treat, because they have 2 generations of tales to tell. And Julie has some fascinating stories about the Rogers / Evans household and life with famous grandparents. She recounts many of these in her book “Your heroes My Grandparents”.

The Rogers were and still are a large close family. They are a blended family and include many adopted children. Roy and Dale were very open and advocates of special needs children because their daughter Robin was born with Down Syndrome. They did not shy away for making sure she was seen and a vibrant part of the family even though she died just shy of her 2nd birthday.

Julie has taught elementary school for over 30 years, has a talent for calligraphy, loves her palomino horses and like her grandparents, she too has a large family of her own.

We talked about the values that Roy and Dale personified not only on screen, but carried them into daily life. How the western movies went from the good guys win without killing the bad guys, to how the bad guy good guy line has blurred in western films over the years.

Julie has lived a fantastic life stepping in and out of the Hollywood spotlight. She is always doing what she can to keep Roy & Dale and the human values they exemplified relevant in a changing world. She has the joy of having had loving grandparents who made sure all the children in their lives enjoyed the ranch, the horses, the limelight and personal one on one time.

Julie, thank you for your time and amazing conversation. I am going to borrow your grandfather’s famous signature signoff – “Happy trails to you, Until we meet again. Happy trails to you, Keep smiling until then.”

https://julierogerspomilia.com

#royrogers #daleevens #trigger #palominohoreses #happytrails #westernmovies #singingcowboy #tvwesterns

Will Neva, Nephew of Randall Morris

Randall Morris played five seasons in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions. Like our past guest Craig Colquitt, Randall also played for The University of Tennessee.

I met Randall’s nephew Will Neva at Podfest Expo 2026 in a roundabout conversation. He was sitting there in his Chef coat (because of his podcast) waiting on his Uber while I was chatting with another potential Relatively Famous guest. During that conversation and because it was Podfest, where everyone just talks to everyone within earshot, Will heard that I was Vanna’s brother. That opened the door for him to tell us, “I’m a comedian and I just wrote some new Vanna White material.”

Will did the bit for Micheal Yonkura and I. His material was funny so jokingly I gave him the White Family seal of approval, not that he needed it, we just thought it would add to the humor of the story.

Turns out Will is the nephew of a former Seattle Seahawk and has a cool life story to tell. He’s a personal chef, a comedian, writer and podcast host. He was also part of the 1994-95 classes from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach that inspired the film “Freedom Writers” starring Hilary Swank.

In honor of the Seattle Seahawks winning the 2026 Super Bowl let’s have a conversation with Will Neva about his life and his time with his Uncle Randall Morris of the 1984-88 Seahawks.

#freedomwriters #comedian #longbeach #Podfest2026 #superbowl #seahawks #Vols #UofTennessee

https://www.tiktok.com/@friedlaughs?_r=1&_t=ZT-93ME12fylqA
https://www.instagram.com/comedian_will_nave/
https://randallmorrisfoundation.org/