Perhaps dogs are man's best friends. Reminiscing about them certainly has provided material over the years for numerous writers, both men and women, as proved by this "inspiring, quirky, wonderful anthology" (as it was described by a Detroit News reviewer).
The collection consists of 49 essays, other short non-fiction pieces and poems by 46 writers remembering a dog, in some instances writing on the day of the dog's death and others as much as 40 years later. Four selections have been added since the title's 1993 publication in hardcover.
Such expected contributors as James Thurber (three pieces), E. B. White (two), Albert Payson Terhune and Louis Bromfield are definitely here. So are such surprises as Eugene O'Neill, Brooks Atkinson, John Updike, John Cheever, Raymond Carver and Kenneth Rexroth. T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats may have inspired the musical Cats but his "Lines to a Yorkshire Terrier" is here with a note that his widow has stressed they were "dog people".
There is much emotion and sentiment but abundant humor as well. Molly Ivins' "What's In a Name?" is hilarious. Stanley Bing's beloved Elizabeth had "an IQ somewhere between a brick and a houseplant." E. B. White's Daisy "died sniffing life, and enjoying it." Readers will smile -- perhaps through tears -- throughout Steve Rubenstein's "A Very Good Dog Is What She Was".
The collection is edited and introduced by Bud Johns and includes his "Requiem for a Fighting Spirit". Reader reaction to its magazine publication prompted his interest in what other writers over the years have done with similar subject matter:
"This anthology is a tribute to the special place departed dogs hold in
the hearts of some of our favorite writers," wrote a reviewer for Dog &
Kennel magazine. "Editor Bud Johns has collected the most poignant, sad and
even humorous tributes to departed dogs that have ever appeared in print." The Detroit News called it "An inspiring, quirky, wonderful anthology of essays, short pieces and poems" and Booklist said "Only the coldest dog owner would not give his or her dog a hug and extra treat after reading these."
"This is a remarkable anthology of stories and poems," Dr. Wallace Sife, President of the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement wrote in his review. "Although these moving remembrances are only of beloved dogs, the lovers of any species of pet will find identical sentiments for their own losses. Whatever kind of companion animal you had, you will find your own bereavement and healing tears reflected here, as well...Rather than being a collection of sad literary memorials Old Dogs Remembered is a joyful celebration of life with pets. This inspires healthy new points of view and adjustments to moving on into our new lives, without them."
The complete list of writers represented: Brooks Atkinson, Stanley Bing, Thomas Blacklock, Thomas M. Boyd, Louis Bromfield, Beth Brown, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. John Burroughs, Lord Byron, Edward Carpenter, Raymond Carver, John Cheever, Ruth Pollack Coughlin, William Cowper, George Crabbe, Robert Creeley, T. S. Eliot, John Galsworthy, Robert Herrick, Ros and Mary Howard, W. H. Hudson, Albert R. Hunt, Molly Ivins, Robinson Jeffers, Bud Johns, E. J. Kahn, Jr., Ben Hur Lampman, Georgette LeBlanc-Maeterlinck, Eugene O'Neill, Daniel Pinkwater, Kenneth Rexroth, Michael Rosen, Steve Rubenstein, Ross Santee, Paul Schubert, Thomas Stienstra, Albert Payson Terhune, James Thurber, John Updike, Anna Tuttle Villegas, Loudon Wainwright, Sir William Watson, E. B. White, Glenn Matthew White, William Wordsworth.
12.95 Quality trade paperback, 240 pages
ISBN 0-912184-12-4
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