Wendy Corr:
Folks, welcome to a very special edition of The Roundup. We are kicking off our second season in the home of Pete and Lynne Simpson here in Cody, Wyoming. What a gift and treasure these two are, and have been to the state of Wyoming, and so I don't want to take too much time to introduce them, because I'm going to let them do the introducing.
Pete and Lynn have been absolute rocks when it comes to the theater and the arts and culture of this state, and farther beyond as well. But in addition to that, Pete has such a long history - well, Lynn as well - long history here in Cody, and have made their mark here. So I want to say hello
Pete Simpson:
Hi, Wendy.
Lynne Simpson:
It's nice to see you.
Wendy Corr:
You two dear, dear people have just been part of my heart for so long,
Pete Simpson:
Well, you’ve been a wonderful part of our lives and our community's lives.
Wendy Corr:
Well. Thank you. Thank you. I want to just start out by saying, both of you grew up here in Cody - in fact, in fact, Pete, you grew up in this house.
Pete Simpson:
This house, I shall put this to everybody, is as old as I am. I came here at the age of six months, and have lived in it off and on ever since.
So what do I have to say here? I was born in 1930, so as a consequence, I've been around for some time, and this has been a place where I've come back, Lynne and I, because both of us were raised in this town.
That's what gave both of us a sense of commonality and a sense of knowing who we both were, because the town was a part of what nurtured us and encouraged us.
Lynne Simpson:
Really special. Well, I was raised across the street from Pete, but there's a lot of years difference between us. So when I was seven, he was 17, and I didn't know him very well, but we were in the same neighborhood.
And it was exactly 65 years ago this holiday season, that we met. And we courted 13 days and became engaged, and then were married right away. So everyone in Cody that knew us because we were the little kids growing up all those years just thought, Well, that won't last. That's 13 days, you know, what do they know?
But we knew everything about each other, because in a small town, you do carry so many things, people, and experiences, that we didn't have to even talk to know that we knew each other. You know, it saved our marriage many times.
Pete Simpson:
Lynne phrased it well one time - we knew a thousand unspoken things about each other.
Lynne Simpson:
It's really a glue that's lovely for us.
Pete Simpson:
And that's been a joy. We ended up going on a date to the Bronze Boot, the old Bronze Boot down on the river with the precarious bridge and all of those exciting things. And we never made the dinner. We sort of parked on the rim.
Lynne Simpson:
Come on, this is a Christmas story. (Both laugh) But we did talk.
Pete Simpson:
We did. We talked for three hours.
Lynne Simpson:
And of course, I think that's what's great about a good marriage, is if you never run out of things you want to tell each other or new things you want to share and have adventures together. It was just wonderful for us to find each other.
I'd come home from New York City, where I was training to be an actor, and Pete was here selling swimming pools.
Pete Simpson:
Of all things.
Lynne Simpson:
Oh, my goodness. How did I fall for that in Cody, Wyoming?
Wendy Corr:
It was a specific kind of swimming pool, wasn't it?
Pete Simpson:
Yes, it was. It was the Esther Williams variety. I don't think many people may even know who she was, but she was a big star at the time, and she came to Cody and to Billings and and we sold a modest number of those.
But, but it got us together, because I was working with her cousin, who was a construction and, again, small town ties.
Lynne Simpson:
But I rescued him from the swimming pool business. Yes.
Wendy Corr:
And where did you take him away to?
Lynne Simpson:
I took him to Laramie to get a degree in history. He said, ‘I always wanted to be a teacher, and teach history.’ And not much encouragement, because he came from a family of lawyers. They all wanted him to go into law, but we followed his dream and we went to Wyoming.
And sure enough, that's what Peter became. A PhD in history and taught Western history, and then got to have a career at the University of Wyoming. I think maybe a lot of people might know that, they know him from down there.
But it started, you know, in a 13 day whirlwind. That was exactly 65 years ago, in about a week we met.
Wendy Corr:
I love that so much.
Pete Simpson:
In Lynne's case, it wasn't a case of rescuing her, it was a case of trying to get her out here. She was in the American Theater Wing in New York, and she had just auditioned for the Perry Como show. People may not know who that is now, but she was on her way.
And so some of them said, ‘Well, you took her away from a life when she could be doing theater.’ And Lynne would respond to this very quickly. In Wyoming, you could do more theater, more time to do more shows and play.
Lynne Simpson:
Well, it's a matter of moving from the largest city in the world, to a rural context, where you have opportunities to do things. I think most people who love Wyoming, move to Wyoming, find that they have access to opportunities that they wouldn't have if they lived in a, you know, 11 million population town.
So even though I was doing well, I was excited. I didn't really love the city, you know. I went there, right out of the sagebrush, right out of these prairies. And so it wasn't a match for me. I was used to people loving me and knowing me and I with them.
So this, it was perfect to be in Wyoming with a happy husband, who loves the theater and music and all of the things.
Pete Simpson:
Yes, well, there were people taking care of her in New York, because she was living in the Helen Hayes-endowed Rehearsal Club, which was the club George Kaufman wrote about in the movie and play Stage Door.
In fact, she took a vacated apartment, recently vacated by Carol Burnett, and so she was in, she was in a good place, where they took care of her.
Lynne Simpson:
But it was a great decision not to stay with them. It's just, was just, I'm a country girl. I like the rural life. I like being known and knowing people, and I like the access to making a difference. It's wonderful.
And I think people move to Wyoming because they feel they can make a difference or have something to offer that's special. So as a native of Wyoming, it all worked out beautifully for us. We had a great life in the arts and academics.
Pete Simpson:
I think we were mentioning earlier, when I was speaking to you earlier, Wendy, that people come to volunteer for those things. They get excited about them. You have a coterie that just sort of comes out of the woodwork in a small town and knows how to do some theater tech, knows how to help with music, how to be a part of the ensemble in so many ways, and that's been what's fun for us.
So you can do a variety of things you never could do in the big city.
Wendy Corr:
That is absolutely correct. I have lived that. I have lived that, and I understand that, and my children have lived it, and, but that's something - I have to say, the first opportunity I had to work with the both of you, and I wasn't even really a part of it, my daughter was, you folks, it's the perfect time to talk about this. You did “A Christmas Carol.”
Lynne Simpson:
Oh, the Christmas Carol. That was a fabulous production. I could always brag because in theater, it's never a one woman or a one man show, it is the whole team of people. So when you brag about the show, you're bragging about everyone who took part in, and of course, we had the Scrooge. (Pats Pete’s hand.)
I didn't know, Wendy. I didn't know your daughter was in it.
Wendy Corr:
Yes, she was one of the children.
Lynne Simpson:
I do remember, I do remember,
Wendy Corr:
Yes, and I just helped that backstage. I did props. And so that's all, but that was my first opportunity. And then Lynne, you were my vocal coach and acting coach, when we did The Sound of Music.
Lynne Simpson:
Well, I did try to help you. You were wonderful in that show.
Wendy Corr:
It was the most amazing production. There was fairy dust sprinkled on The Sound of Music, and it was a number of years ago now, but, but it was such - again, I think that's a tribute to the two of you coming back to Cody and saying, I want to work here. I want to bring theater here. I want to bring these productions here.
I want to veer off real quickly. You guys did leave for a while after you left Laramie, you went to Washington state.
Lynne Simpson:
Oregon. Yes, close, northern Pacific. Rain. Lots of clouds. I stayed in the house all one whole year, because in Wyoming, the sun shines every day. Everybody knows that, right? So I stayed in the house until the sun came out. And it didn't.
So I finally had to figure that out. But we had a wonderful life in Oregon, but we took our first opportunity to come back after Pete got his degree. And I did a lot of theater out there. I had a lot of opportunities there. Yes, so I've had a blessed life in terms of being able to do things that I've always wanted to be creative.
But in terms of Christmas. I mean, wasn't that fun to do A Christmas Carol?
Wendy Corr:
It was. Was it 2008?
Lynne Simpson:
It was pretty early on. It was early on.
Wendy Cor:
Because when did you guys come back to Cody?
Lynne Simpson:
2000.
Pete Simpson:
So very shortly after that.
Wendy Corr:
But the two of you have done productions together. You two did “Love Letters?”
Lynne Simpson:
Well, we've done Love Letters, we've done The Gin Game. We've done On Golden Pond.
Pete Simpson:
We did the last act of, “I can't hear you when the water's running,” which is, I'm Herbert, which is a wonderful confusion of memories for these two old couples, and as it has built in laughs in it. So we've done little things and big things.
And being together is great because I feel safe, and you have to feel safe on stage.
Lynne Simpson:
Well, it's like a couple who loves hunting together, or hiking or any, anything that people enjoy together is very nice for the marriage, I think, and we just had that blessing. On top of
The first Christmas we had in Cody, we dressed up in Victorian costumes, a la Christmas Carol, of course, with the hat and the bonnets.
And we, we did caroling, the two of us in with lanterns and, you know, with the wassailing, we went wassailing. We have a picture from the Cody Enterprise. That was the whole cover, of the two of us, when I was 21 and Pete was 31.
But my point is, we started our performing right away at Christmas time.
Wendy Corr:
At 21 and 31 in downtown Cody. That's phenomenal. I love that so much. I love the togetherness. I love the fact that the two of you have formed a true partnership over all of these years, 65 years together.
That includes going through the ups and downs of politics. Pete, I remember when you ran for governor.
Pete Simpson:
Yes, that's right.
Wendy Corr:
And that was, I don't know why I remember this, I know that I was in high school? 1986?
Pete Simpson:
Yes, 1985.
Wendy Corr:
Yes. I was in high school over in Buffalo. So I remember, I knew your name before I knew Al's name, because you were here, you were in the state. And Al was up in Washington.
Lynne Simpson:
And so he was he one of your representatives? No, he was a state representative from Sheridan. So we had a lot of theater life over there. Yes, in Sheridan and Buffalo, we starred some people from Buffalo in the Sheridan productions. Isn't that great?
Wendy Corr:
Yes! So I remember when you ran for governor, and that was, you only did it once, right?
Pete Simpson:
That's right.
Wendy Corr:
Tell us about your decision. Why did you decide that that was something you wanted to do?
Pete Simpson:
Well, because I've lived in a political family for all my life. It was on the breakfast table menu. It was, Dad had run and lost once and won twice, and so we'd gone through it as a family, as a matter of fact, right in this house. And so it was natural to think about those things.
That's really why I ran for the legislature first in Sheridan. And that experience was wonderful. I enjoyed it. It was a time, I should say this, politically, when you could talk across the aisle, and when you could agree, and when you could compromise, and so I enjoyed it very much.
Lynne Simpson:
We were idiots. We fell for flattery. I mean, come on, people in your audience know that if you get flattered, you're likely to say Yes, right? Yeah, we need you. You're the only one that can do this. Oh, please, come.
Well, you know, we rose to the occasion, and fell for the idea that Wyoming would support two Simpsons. But that was a mistake. And we did the polling. We asked everyone, would it bother you at all if there were two Simpsons in politics in Wyoming?
Well, at the end, at the when we lost the election, at the exit polling, they all said we didn't want two Simpsons.
Wendy Corr:
I guess it comes down to, you know, people ask you to your face - “Oh, yeah. Sure!”
Lynne Simpson:
But we met a lot of people, and we had a lot of support, and it's just that it cost us everything. So then our lives had to change drastically after the election.
Wendy Corr:
So what did you do after the event?
Pete Simpson:
Well, in a way, it worked out very well. It dovetailed with what I did next, which was to be in charge of fundraising at the University of Wyoming. So I knew people all over the state. I traveled all over the state with this campaign. So as a consequence, the connections were very helpful and probably led to the fact that they would hire me down there.
So I had a wonderful life. We did in Laramie, the next career, which was a pretty long career, from ‘86 to ‘97.
Lynne Simpson:
And I immediately went back to school to get some degree, so that I could have a career. And I have a career in aging, gerontology, and I hated it. I thought, oh, no, I don't want to work with old people. The old people will just drive me crazy.
But I had a job running the senior services for Albany County after our election, and I spent 12 of the happiest years of my life.
And now that we are the old people, all of my training and experience have become a big part of my happiness as we are enjoying our old age. I learned so much from so many great people, and I learned so much about the psychology of aging and social, cultural approaches to aging, that's really been great for us.
So even though it seemed like lemon juice, it wasn't. It was just a wonderful experience for me, to end up having a career that I would never have dreamed of.
So that's, that's the message Wendy, you never know. Never give up hope when things look the worst, because you don't know what blessings are ahead for you.
Pete Simpson:
It's kind of an old pioneer sort of trope as well, because reinvention was how the frontier was built. And you came as a hunter, you learned how to grow things. You owned a grocery store. You might even become the undertaker, who knows. But the point is, we needed a job, and she got one.
Wendy Corr:
So I want to take just a couple of minutes and let you brag on your children, because you have raised the next generation of Simpsons, who are out there making their names in the world. Whether it's music with Maggie, whether it's theater with Pete Jr., whether it's - but Milward has been on the state stage. And Milward Simpson, the next Milward Simpson, you know, named after your father, is out there, and he's been doing amazing things as well.
So tell me just a little bit about your children and what they have done.
Pete Simpson:
Well, let me start with this. I've always been proud to be known as Milward's son. I am now extremely proud to be known as Milward's father.
Wendy Corr:
Oh my gosh. Milward did amazing things. He's your oldest.
Lynne Simpson:
I think the secret of our children and their success in the arts and humanities is that we played in our family. In other words, things like poetry and history and literature and music and dance. All of that was a part of our daily lives.
And so we were thrown together as a fivesome over our lives, because we moved a lot. You know, when you move, it takes a while. So we were a solid little family, with the idea that we played together.
Now, some people would say you should have raised children who knew how to balance a checking account and maybe get straight A's and things, but we were doing rock concerts, and then we would do adaptions of little books. We did the Little Prince. Milward starred in the Little Prince.
We just did all kinds of things that were fun. We just played all the time, and we are now just weeping over the fact that in our school system, play is being challenged. We're finding that the arts are being reduced, if not eliminated. Which is your play time, art, your art classes, your music classes, your dance classes, your history classes, etc.
So I think that our children are successful and are talented, but they had a chance to do it in the family all through school. And I think other families, many other families that have artistic children, would say the same, that as long, you know, the whole family was involved.
People in sports have that, if their dad’s in sports, you know. So we had a culture. We had a family culture of mostly just playing, inventing, imagining, doing crazy things, adventures, and so I think that's what makes a person successful. It’s the creative part.
And they were, then they, I think genetically, they had good voices, yes. And they had natural interests in politics and history, et cetera. For Milward, Milward does have great leadership skills, and we're proud that he's had opportunities in Wyoming to exercise that.
And my youngest son did become an actor, although in our family life, he was most quiet, withdrawn person in the family. He said, Well, Mom, I was just waiting to come out of the dark. He said, I just liked coming out and surprising everyone with the things I could do.
Wendy Corr:
Because he's been in the Blue Man Group, he was, I mean, integral in the Blue Man Group.
Pete Simpson:
He was in the original Blue Man Group.
Wendy Corr:
And now he's doing an Off Broadway show that you were telling me about before, I when I just walked in here today,
Pete Simpson:
He is what they term an Obie Award winner, which is the equivalent of the Tony for off Broadway and creative work. So he, for 20 years of excellent performance and work, he won that award. So he's well sought for and he always has a gig.
But he says you still have to live like a shark in New York City.
Lynne Simpson:
You know, in show business, it's a gig. He still has a gig life, although he has been teaching now at some universities that are very, very good for him. And he said, Mom, I'm lucky. I have all of this fame and fortune, but I have a family.
Oftentimes in the arts, the family life gets set aside, and he has a family, and they're playing and doing crazy things. So that was a surprise to us. He took off in ways that we never, and he got his start at the University of Wyoming, which is, you know, that's a star in our in our lives, is the opportunities that that wonderful university gives people.
Pete Simpson:
We really do have some amazing institutions. And one of the things I love is that there's beginning to be more and more collaboration between the Buffalo Bill Center, which is a remarkable institution; the University of Wyoming, the new Heart Mountain Interpretation Center, and the symphony in our backyard, which Fred Child, the announcer for Performance Today on NPR, calls the best Summer Festival Orchestra in the world.
Lynne Simpson:
I'll fill in and say that's in Jackson, you know, the Grand Teton, that's been a big part of our lives. But anyway, so they're homegrown. They're rural kids that had opportunities.
And Maggie was a great performer, she's a great writer and a great musician and vocalist, but when she married, she moved to Texas, where she raised a son. So she's now returning, and I hope, we hope that she'll be performing again. And she is really a fabulous performer and poet, and so we got, when they got smashed, didn't they? Well, they got a whole bunch of good stuff from the arts.
Wendy Corr:
Exactly, exactly, but you cultivated that as parents and as people, because of the people, the creative people that you are.
We're short on time here, because we have been. I hate to wrap this up, because I love you both so much, and I love visiting with you. But what I want to ask both of you is, when you look back at your lives, is there a period of time that was the brightest? That shined the brightest for you, individually, as people?
What period of time in your life, Pete, did you feel made your heart leap the most when you recall, you look back and say, that was the time.
Pete Simpson:
It was in this town. It was an auto supply shop run by old Dave Spink. I met this girl. Literally.
Lynne Simpson:
That was the moment?
Pete Simpson:
Oh, you bet.
Lynne Simpson:
Isn’t that nice?
Wendy Corr:
I’m actually going to sit here and cry. That’s fantastic.
Pete Simpson:
That's what did it.
Lynne Simpson:
I think it's right now. And I think that for everyone in the audience, look at the present. Be in that full, full present to the today, and then it will be this, the highlight of your life. If you live that way, then you have highlights all along.
So I think being old together is lucky. It doesn't happen for everyone, and that we paid attention to being in love and having fun, that our old age together is just the same. We're having fun, and we love each other, and we look forward to more art, and we love following our children, of course, in their lives.
So today, this is the best. Being with Wendy Corr.
Wendy Corr:
You have absolutely made my day, absolutely made my day. And I want to take these lessons, and I'm so glad we're able to share these lessons with with the audience, and I hope that you all are able to take this lesson to heart, and this this life lesson from these two beautiful people, that now is the time.
And we are in a beautiful place, and we are in the blessed place that is Wyoming.
Lynne Simpson:
That's right, I agree with that.
And what a gift it is that we all have had. And so for the people who are watching this and who are listening to this, we have it all here in Wyoming, and what a gift that is.
So thank you. Thank you for the gift that you've brought us and the blessing that you've brought us over the years and the decades, and the gift of your wisdom and your humor, and the gift of your talent, both of you and just being around.
Lynne Simpson:
Thank you, Wendy.
Pete Simpson:
Well, you've been a pleasure, Wendy, and we've enjoyed having you here, and we've enjoyed watching you perform for years. Wonderful, wonderful.
Wendy Corr:
The opportunities that are given to us in small town Wyoming, and we take those and we just say, Yes, that's right, yes, these opportunities. And so folks, this is our holiday wish for all of you, is to take today and be grateful.
And as the very first episode for season two of Cowboy State Daily’s The Roundup, we say welcome and join us next week we’ll have more amazing, amazing people to highlight, because Wyoming is a state filled with amazing people. So join us next week. Thanks for tuning in today. Have a wonderful week.
