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Following a brief stay in England, Robert Manry, his family and Tinkerbelle returned to the United States on board the Queen Mary ocean liner. When they arrived in New York Manry made appearances on the "Tonight Show" with Steve Allen, the " Today Show" with Hugh Downs and "What's My Line?" The family then flew from New York to Cleveland, where they were greeted by local dignitaries. A parade through downtown Cleveland and a luncheon at the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Cleveland followed, as did a parade in Willowick, Ohio and the naming of a park after Manry in Willowick. Robert Manry never went back to his copy editor job at the Plain Dealer. He spent the year following his voyage writing his book Tinkerbelle and doing speaking engagements. In 1967 Manry purchased a boat large enough to take on sailing trips with his entire family. It was a 27-foot Tartan they called Curlew. That summer he gave Tinkerbelle to the Western Reserve Historical Society and the family, including their cat and dog, set out on a year-long adventure around the eastern half of the United States. They were in the Cleveland area again by the end of July, 1968. Upon their return, Manry went back to doing speaking engagements. He also began preparations for his second book which was to be about the trip he took with his family. But on May 2, 1969 Manry's wife, Virginia, was killed in an automobile accident. She was returning from a visit with her very ill mother in Pittsburgh, who died the next day. At the time, Robert Manry was in Ithaca, New York on a lecture tour. Manry then lost all interest in writing the second book, since Virginia was a major part of the trip and, according to family members, it was much too emotionally draining for him. In October of 1970 Manry married Jean Flaherty of Pittsburgh. On February 21, 1971, at the age of 52, he died of a heart attack while he and his second wife were visiting friends in Union City, Pennsylvania. Robert Manry was survived by his wife, his daughter, Robin, and his son, Douglas. He was buried in the family plot of his second wife in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. At the time of this writing (2005) Robin Manry was living in New York and Douglas Manry was living in Cleveland, Ohio. Manry's brother, John, was living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, his sister, Louise, was living in New Hampshire and his sister, Mrs. Dorothy Dole, was living in Oregon. |
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