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Letters to Bob Baker


Cognoscente

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Cognoscente

Special thanks to Monkey King over at Bruce Lee Lives for bringing to attention an auction from Baker's son. Not all letters are from Bruce, some are from Linda. The most interesting thing about these letters is that Bruce wanted Bob to send over coke and acid as well as hash during his final years.

My first post will be '60s letters. There was no date on this letter, but it marked the moment when Bob went from being a student to a confidante.


lf.jpg.2a50ed368ae4e6c6633b2004c42b2791.jpg


The below was dated December 26, 1967.


26dec67.jpg.4e1fb8db04675294647c518a7b9f6089.jpg


January 9, 1968.


9jan68.jpg.fbe7b463f25498edcb047f89a45f97d9.jpg


April 1, 1969.


1apr69.jpg.6ca45243eee20079e58183738181dd91.jpg


15 October, 1969.


15oct69.jpg.4c2a6db656a66dba9c00e936283b0398.jpg


14 November, 1969.


14nov69.jpg.d04270a267b086d2eb3c8230a40a9935.jpg


15 December, 1969.

 

15dec69.jpg.2fbc2b6fc4f071d1bf5b2e65068ed842.jpg

Edited by Cognoscente
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Cognoscente

1970.

February 2.

2feb70.jpg.07cd149aec55999ae58f49fc823a46dc.jpg


March 6.


6mar70.jpg.c09e0589d96c873f73eb447d1bd8a804.jpg


March 11.


11mar70.jpg.c5d56f137e752f093fa0695372a588bf.jpg


March 17.

17mar70.jpg.0610811e2e5d2e853f66166fe96b5bd5.jpg


April 22.


22apr70.jpg.af2d1e225166ced1f560d12b9dd24804.jpg


June 17.


17jun70.jpg.237f4d2721bacd08a0764dda3fb427c7.jpg


June 30.


30jun70.jpg.c15e8e951c2bf6590fa76c5eef0d4262.jpg


August 28.


28aug70.jpg.c90167c33df4b267e11eafa525f36073.jpg


September 10.


10sep70.jpg.2842d9bc741421489e3890006ae61e93.jpg


September 16.


16sep70.jpg.22cfdbf8cc35446a8eba05986b3a1291.jpg


September 23.


23sep70.jpg.5a09059c32feb00f687dafdd70a2e3fb.jpg


October 8.


8oct70.jpg.5a6e36bf0d583b61bb9fa64739193da5.jpg


November 2.


2nov70.jpg.c965ab0af25fdab68044e22ea29eaa62.jpg


December 16.

 

16dec70.jpg.dd00c6dc5bb6b7a974d739e8ea15464d.jpg

Edited by Cognoscente
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Cognoscente

1971.

February 16.


16feb71.jpg.1a65cd03403fbec9ec7177960e1ae902.jpg


February 25.


696344978_25feb71.jpg.e410481642a785f4af78e07a81797987.jpg


March 3.

3mar71.jpg.c641271ce33251ae1fedef01b423b273.jpg


March 11.


1754649050_march71.jpg.6f8d5425120b397c23714e6d64d9e881.jpg


March 23.


968038947_23March1971.jpg.b85d4c7b99bfd54e8dd6ee31e8fb623f.jpg

23b.jpg.95f731ab8c87a34670de649333a53696.jpg

23c.jpg.42f1adf41ad37e8e0763fb4dc82259e5.jpg


April 20.

20apr71.jpg.704b2747504627d1d302a5accd48f298.jpg

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Cognoscente

May 7.


7may71.jpg.3e8e143fbc2805c635098832a3e3b3fa.jpg


May 14.


1944743826_14may71.jpg.5ae9969e1ba432b4712eb90accdeddf3.jpg


May 25.


25may71.jpg.f3c0b3c0aa16db88cd92c15eab9e87e0.jpg


May 26.


26may71.jpg.685167375185263d919d6ed932a6680a.jpg


June 14.


14jun71.jpg.cae61b169e29d342390e4dc4d2d6d014.jpg


June 22.

 

june22a.jpg.a0e36e5374e98706805cbcde94f441e1.jpg

june22b.jpg.fa458b189f11ecf24a9c5a18cb426f57.jpg



August 3.


3aug71.jpg.680f94ce677e9d1a0b463600a91b1869.jpg

e3aug.jpg.a07fcb5dd266c768bcd078f4cba65a9d.jpg

 

August 23.

23aug71.jpg.1297e5d1b8524785d0fdd464a1b4d7a5.jpg

23a71e.jpg.5c7abb91014a445ca0f4a0e95889fcc6.jpg

17 December.


692603024_19dec71.jpg.359253f7fe6b1e706d1a36eaf71ba5d0.jpg

17dec71.jpg.acbdaafa3eb2453ac753692e375d1968.jpg 

Edited by Cognoscente
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Cognoscente

1972.


February 21 (when WOTD was known as ETD).

21feb72.jpg.8cae27d51ce38d53a09a15d80e487a40.jpg

21febe.jpg.dc531b29afba33b4dc6fb8b6988a90d8.jpg

 

February 28.

28feb72.jpg.c2e783bed37845f6edf15187d25fb9b7.jpg



June 2.


1679709814_june272.jpg.4a40155365de7e97bafa4735965995c4.jpg
1325244703_june2(part2).jpg.0eb29f8e0159ce884b45a750d4140a3f.jpg
1004455043_june2(part3).jpg.12d76095e1070bc7bbbf1e9460db8e56.jpg945809294_june2(part4).jpg.0a2065a49f927a3f38a155df95725e0f.jpg
 


"Late '72" (the letter sounds like GOD instead of ETD given how hyper that Hai Tien was in comparison to Lee)

aug72.jpg.dfccfb31a16eb1ddef42f3c0bba92d30.jpg



Another "Late '72" letter.

sep72a.jpg.b23d8f5d40a5e11a90cd92ca9696f659.jpgsep72b.jpg.18d88db91bf738184796d9d1abe38bf6.jpg
lf2.jpg.900eba0f8a6d0f57be357af7b3808a2c.jpg

maths.jpg.3766eeb8766c6fd3a42f0299d865c199.jpg


October 2.

2oct72.jpg.b9c477f955daada4760f58c5e26aa3ca.jpg


November 22.

22nov72.jpg.c373a00e24d546a691ed707ca48dce0b.jpg22novb.jpg.21b731f8e75f1fe48d7a2eb6956a20f2.jpg


December 11.

11dec72.jpg.025a23f40057c86c62d22c00d97a9db4.jpg

Edited by Cognoscente
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Cognoscente

1973.

 

1973.jpg.2749970d344b56b19609a859577e4927.jpg
1973b.jpg.760f660f5feff3b76fac9fff551acd0f.jpg

 


March 21.

march21.jpg.d4551709eb814dba1ea69ab74fb1b4c1.jpg
21b.jpg.7e540298edbdf1f1b7032123f8bf7991.jpg


March 29.


607115205_29mar73(1).jpg.4229d9525b1a763fa1238894f1ef7742.jpg

march29.jpg.682391845273321849058f115ffc650b.jpg


April 14.

april14.jpg.f8255da92db8548a02fb86ccbdea1c7e.jpg

14b.jpg.677f1cdc5426189cb3e984ae5443edb2.jpg
 

October 4, 1973.

oct4.jpg.b76fee203f13cc9f8e7468cb68b3edb1.jpg


January 15, 1975.

15jan75.jpg.a6dee94cfe7ea4e923f57f18258b5d74.jpgpostscript.jpg.a3fe465a0d810b5b833507ade4cea0d7.jpg

Edited by Cognoscente
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WarriorBloodCrest
1 hour ago, Cognoscente said:

1971.

February 16.


2107605771_16feb71.jpg.ae178d719f9e05291fa13812799e5fd4.jpg


February 25.


696344978_25feb71.jpg.e410481642a785f4af78e07a81797987.jpg


March.


1754649050_march71.jpg.6f8d5425120b397c23714e6d64d9e881.jpg


March 3.

1957729601_3mar71.jpg.10a397e620268bc2ae8306cb36cd5d33.jpg


March 11.


1353402535_11mar71.jpg.3bce8f7fc018d3e9c97ef8fd9c210c05.jpg


March 23.


968038947_23March1971.jpg.b85d4c7b99bfd54e8dd6ee31e8fb623f.jpg1535276830_23mar71(part2).jpg.97fb4dd5fadbda64bce86f26a1dabb69.jpg
23 mar 71 (part 3).jpg


March 26

1383497823_26mar71.jpg.8f0e2b2f6dc4460f7d2e06076256aba5.jpg


April 20.


1823928018_20apr71.jpg.6aa2def8d1d5b98181a31ac1e21d7b9f.jpg

Will try to transcribe as many letters from the 1971 period as I can. Will keep updating this post with each new transcription as they come along. 

February 16:
 

It was a tiresome trip, but India was 
quite nice. Tell you all about it when I see 
you. I'm still recovering from the trip, all 
the plane & car rides messed up my back
somewhat, thought it's not serious. Of course
day and night is all mixed up, have to adjust.

Lucky the earthquake did not mess up 
anything. Well I'm tired, just a short note
to let my friends know I'm back.

Take Care and wish everything
is well with you 3 you & your family
Bruce.

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shukocarl1441996347

I always knew he did the "holy stuff" but he's gone from hero to zero with me...what a dope. Seems like he was at it heavily with packages arriving all the time and going for it with the Thai variant. What a bleeding yin/yang he was as a man eh? Supreme Master one minute and then Stoned Druggie the next. It's no wonder his estate likes to promote him as some kind of demi-god. The more I know about him the less I like. I'll still love the films but as a hero....no-he's zero.

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WarriorBloodCrest
1 minute ago, shukocarl1441996347 said:

I always knew he did the "holy stuff" but he's gone from hero to zero with me...what a dope. Seems like he was at it heavily with packages arriving all the time and going for it with the Thai variant. What a bleeding yin/yang he was as a man eh? Supreme Master one minute and then Stoned Druggie the next. It's no wonder his estate likes to promote him as some kind of demi-god. The more I know about him the less I like. I'll still love the films but as a hero....no-he's zero.

I don't personally care if Bruce did drugs or not, since that was his life to live, so as long as no one else was harmed by his activities,. That said, and while I haven't combed all the letters (gonna be a few more days at the very least for that), Bruce seemed to be the kind of person to be more of a drug kingpin rather than an active consumer of drugs. 

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Cognoscente

He didn't exactly go off the rails as Van Damme did, but it would appear that Bruce may have tried a taste out of curiosity. I can imagine him being more of a drug pusher than a drug taker, but it's interesting to note that he still wasn't getting much income out of it. Both Linda and Bruce were becoming more gaunt as time went on. This tells me that Bruce's appearance wasn't so much to do with an eating disorder driven by vanity, after all.

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Josh Baker
1 hour ago, Cognoscente said:

He didn't exactly go off the rails as Van Damme did, but it would appear that Bruce may have tried a taste out of curiosity. I can imagine him being more of a drug pusher than a drug taker, but it's interesting to note that he still wasn't getting much income out of it. Both Linda and Bruce were becoming more gaunt as time went on. This tells me that Bruce's appearance wasn't so much to do with an eating disorder driven by vanity, after all.

Yeah this explains a lot of things about his behaviour in the last days of his life...

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Cognoscente

I'm surprised that we don't get to hear any tales of him having a Montana-style meltdown (except with less guns than Scarface).

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Josh Baker
6 minutes ago, Cognoscente said:

I'm surprised that we don't get to hear any tales of him having a Montana-style meltdown (except with less guns than Scarface).

I mean what I'm upset about is that it removes some of his mystique- his appearance in the last months of his life could be weight loss related but it makes more logical sense now that it was cocaine-related! Could be a mixture of both maybe?

I dont want to be a deluded Bruce Lee fan and remain in reality so I have no interest in putting my head in the sand over this matter.

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Josh Baker

My only question is that why didnt the coroner find coke in his system during the autopsy? Had he stopped taking it?

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Cognoscente

Either that or they covered it up, but then there's the issue of why they didn't find any traces of Dilantin.

It would also appear that the so-called 'roid rage that Bruce was suffering from was actually coke rage.

Bruce should have replaced cocaine with caffeine, and hash with Tai Chi.

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DragonClaws
16 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

Special thanks to Monkey King over at Bruce Lee Lives for bringing to attention an auction from Baker's son. Not all letters are from Bruce, some are from Linda. The most interesting thing about these letters is that Bruce wanted Bob to send over coke and acid as well as hash during his final years.

My first post will be '60s letters. There was no date on this letter, but it marked the moment when Bob went from being a student to a confidante.

 

It makes you wonder, if the people who mentioned this stuff on Bruce Lee forums in the past. Had access to some of these letters, before they went public?.

 

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Cognoscente

Maybe Monkey King found out about Baker Jr.'s auction through sheer fate. Maybe Baker's son IS Monkey King.

Maybe MK learned from this fellow.
 

 

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DragonClaws
On 7/5/2021 at 1:36 PM, Cognoscente said:

Maybe Monkey King found out about Baker Jr.'s auction through sheer fate. Maybe Baker's son IS Monkey King.

Maybe MK learned from this fellow.

 

George Tan knew Bob Baker quite well, he might have seen these back in the late 80's?.

 

The late Ahna Capri had already made it clear that her co-star could get hold of anything she wanted. In an interview she gave years ago.

Edited by DragonClaws
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Coliseum1972

Lots of drugs in Hwood then :

 

Nicholson introduced Hagman to weed in Mex , police also busted JN with coke in '75

Walken and Raul Julia did acid

de Niro used coke with Carrie Fisher and John Belushi

Dolph supposedly did coke a few yr ago in Stockholm at a bar

Barbra and Sellers did weed once

Cesar Romero did weed too

Jean Claude van Damme

Presleys body guard Red West tried acid in '65 , nobody knew then what it was , also they used drugs too , it wasn't just Presley , maybe even coke

Many examples........Baker might've believed Lees death drug related and felt major guilt over this ?

Edited by Coliseum1972
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Cognoscente

IMDB has it down as April 14, 1993 - the twentieth anniversary of that letter from Linda to him.

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2 hours ago, Coliseum1972 said:

I think Baker died in '92 but not sure ?

I met him in 90 at the tracking the dragon convention so think you are about right..maybe 92/93?

super nice guy,quite nervous around people but that means nothing..

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