Letter: Shirley Temple was wonderful child celebrity 'hero'

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

How sad I am to hear of Shirley Temple's passing ("Shirley Temple, child star of the Depression, dies at 85," Tribune, Feb. 11). Statistically speaking, I guess not many of us "over-80s" are still alive and still have our senses.

How interesting it has been to have been young at the time of the Dionne quintuplets' birth and the coronation that included Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose! I remember listening to the radio broadcast the execution of Bruno Richard Hauptman for kidnapping the Lindburgh baby. And the deaths of Will Rogers and Wiley Post in Alaska.

I remember Amelia Earhart getting lost and the opening of the Golden Gate bridge. Oh, so many big stories! But the biggest story of all was Shirley Temple. She was my first celebrity "hero" and just a little kid like me!

Alice Philippi

Salt Lake City