I caught another interesting Diane Rehm Show about pets, and how certain dogs and cats seem to appear in our lives when we need them most.

Diane Rehm hosted Vicki Myron, author of the New York Times best seller, “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.” Vicki discussed her book and relationship with “Dewey.”  Vicki found Dewey as a frostbitten kitten in a library book drop. Dewey healed and quickly became the charm of Spencer, Iowa and the world.

Later, Vicki wrote the book to tell Dewey’s story. She tells her story to Diane Rehm, so I recommend this touching Diane Rehm Show, and although I haven’t read Vicki’s book, it seems like it would be a great read. Vicki noted during the interview that despite the historical information and medical terminology in the book, it is popular with younger readers—particularly boys (from ages 8-12, I believe she said). From The Diane Rehm Show:

The former head librarian of Spencer, Iowa explains a cat’s appeal in her small Midwestern town and the rest of the world.

From the Spencer Daily Reporter, IA:

Myron decided to include more in her book than just the story of Dewey because the town, the cat and Myron herself were closely linked. “When we tried to write just a cat book it didn’t work. We had to tell the whole story for it to make sense,” she told Michael Crumb of the Associated Press, during a break from a book tour in Des Moines.

Dewey was discovered in the Spencer library’s overnight drop box in January 1988. Myron bonded immediately with Dewey as she lifted the tiny kitten from the book drop that January morning.

“He was so cold and half starved and very dirty. He didn’t look like much until I picked him up and he started purring immediately and he looked in my eyes with his eyes,” Myron told Crumb. “He had the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen and I felt a connection with him right away.”

Myron was struggling back then to make ends meet — a divorced mother trying to raise a daughter, working full time at the Spencer library and studying to get her master’s degree. She had only been on the job for six months and had wanted to make the library more homey.

Patrons took to Dewey quickly, and, over time, visitors increased from 60,000 a year to more than 100,000. Many were suffering from the crippling economy that hit the farming community especially hard, and Myron thinks Dewey lifted their spirits and made them a bit more eager to stop off at the library.

“Dewey didn’t bring jobs to Spencer, but there were a lot of farmers who came in to fill out the first resume of their life. They didn’t know how to use the computer, they were having a tough time and were really down when they came in. Dewey won them over and put a smile on their face,” Myron said, in the Associated Press interview.

Myron also told Crumb her book is a story of unconditional love, companionship and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps during tough times.

Myron recalls how Dewey’s health began to fail in the year before he died and how, to help him put on weight, she would feed him cheese, scrambled eggs and roast beef sandwiches. “And he loved it!”

Dewey died on Nov. 29, 2006, at age 19. Myron was about to leave for a trip to Florida when she got a call from the library staff telling her Dewey wasn’t acting right.

Purchase the book here.

Image Found Here

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