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

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