Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges remembers her friend, child psychiatrist Robert Coles

NPR | By Mary Louise Kelly,

Christopher Harland-Dunaway, Jeanette Woods

Published June 12, 2026 at 4:12 PM EDT

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with civil rights icon Ruby Bridges about her friend, Pulitzer Prize winning child psychiatrist Robert Coles, who died on June 4 at 97.

Mary Louise Kelly

Mary Louise Kelly is a co-host of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine.

See stories by Mary Louise Kelly

Christopher Harland-Dunaway

Jeanette Woods

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Donate