Henrietta Barnard, 99; Co-Host of 1960s TV Show on Travel

Henrietta Seipp Barnard, who with her husband, Slim, was host of a popular television travel program in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, has died. She was 99.

Barnard died Friday in her sleep of heart failure, according to her son, Larry.

A Los Angeles native, Barnard attended Redondo Beach High School and married Lawrence, better known as “Slim,” shortly after graduation.

The couple lived primarily in Glendale, and Slim worked as the automotive editor for the now defunct Los Angeles Examiner newspaper. The couple toured the western United States, Mexico and Canada, and Slim wrote what was called a motor log about his car trips. He retired from the Examiner in 1960, after 34 years with the paper.

The couple became co-hosts of a weekly television series, which aired for about four years and moved from Channel 13 to Channel 4 and then Channel 5. While they were billed as co-hosts, Slim, with his hearty and infectious laugh, was clearly the star. Henrietta brought some grace and elegance to the proceedings.

The travel show, which concentrated on local and nearby areas, gained a loyal following.

“Seventy-five percent of our trips are within 500 miles of Los Angeles,” he told The Times during the show’s heyday.

The couple offered a map to their weekly journey, but viewers had to go to a Ford dealership -- the automaker sponsored the show -- to pick it up. During the first 2 1/2 years the program was on the air, about 2 million maps were handed out, Slim said.

The couple had been married 52 years when Slim died of heart failure in 1975. He was 71.

In addition to her son, Henrietta is survived by her daughter, Beverly Warrington; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. Services are pending.