Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

I received a copy of this book for Christmas, from my wonderful elderly
mother.

I doubt if I own more than 3 or 4 hard cover books that aren't
textbooks, or technical manuals.

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

He looks out of the photograph *directly* into your eyes, his head
slightly tilted ever so slightly to one side. He has the amber eyes that
some orange tabbies have. The kind that you can just get lost in.

Somebody dumps the yet to be named kitten in the book return box on a
day in January when the temperature was -15F. That's -26C, for those
using the metric system. It's really, really, really cold.

I have spent time outdoors when it's been -15F, (and much colder). It
can only be described as brutally, dangerously cold. Where I live, we
will get temperatures this cold many times every winter. With the
warmest and most expensive cold weather clothing I can afford, I can
only stay outdoors for a few hours, before my hands, and especially my
feet, start to get dangerously cold. Frostbite, which means frozen skin,
muscles, tendons and blood vessels, soon follows. The blood leaves the
extremities, to keep the internal organs warm. The extremities freeze.
Then the temperature in the core of the body begins to drop. The
chemical reactions that occur every second, that supply energy and
nutrients to every cell in the body, slow down. Eventually, they slow to
the point where life can no longer be sustained.

Whoever dumped poor Dewey in that drop box was condemning him to a
virtually certain, cruel death.

But, he didn't freeze to death, of course.

And thus began the incredible story of how Dewey came to live in the
library in the small farming community of Spencer, Iowa.

The book is as much about life in the small Iowa farming community, as
it is about this marvelous cat that became such an important part of it.
Some chapters hardly mention Dewey at all, as the book weaves the
complex story of the background of Spencer, Iowa, and the people who
live there.

The librarian, Vicki Myron, grew up on a farm outside of Spencer. She
had a very difficult life: a bad marriage, followed by single
motherhood. Opportunities were few, and difficult for her.

The book was especially interesting to me. I grew up about 100 miles
north of Iowa. I know many of the cities in Iowa; I've been in, or at
least driven through most of them. I dated a woman who grew up on a
small farm in Iowa, for a long time. Vicki graduated from Mankato State
University, In Minnesota. My older brother went there.

Southern and western Minnesota is almost exactly like Iowa: mile after
mile of corn. The land isn't as flat, but from the top of a small rise,
all you can see is farmland. Mostly the corn that Iowa is so famous for.
And every 20 or 30 miles, there is a small town. Farming communities
just like Spencer, Iowa.

Where Dewey lived. In the library.

It is a truly wonderful book.

Those of you who live overseas, or even in different parts of the USA,
won't find it as familiar as I did. But the book is so well written,
with so much detail and character development, you will find yourself
immersed in the culture of Spencer, Iowa, just as much as I was.

And, although I have said a lot about Spencer, Iowa; the book IS really
about the most wonderful cat you could ever possibly imagine.

This is without a doubt one of the very best books I have read for a
very, very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

And, our Dan M or Pam S could write such a book. Others too I am sure.
"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
I received a copy of this book for Christmas, from my wonderful elderly
mother.

I doubt if I own more than 3 or 4 hard cover books that aren't
textbooks, or technical manuals.

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

He looks out of the photograph *directly* into your eyes, his head
slightly tilted ever so slightly to one side. He has the amber eyes that
some orange tabbies have. The kind that you can just get lost in.

Somebody dumps the yet to be named kitten in the book return box on a
day in January when the temperature was -15F. That's -26C, for those
using the metric system. It's really, really, really cold.

I have spent time outdoors when it's been -15F, (and much colder). It
can only be described as brutally, dangerously cold. Where I live, we
will get temperatures this cold many times every winter. With the
warmest and most expensive cold weather clothing I can afford, I can
only stay outdoors for a few hours, before my hands, and especially my
feet, start to get dangerously cold. Frostbite, which means frozen skin,
muscles, tendons and blood vessels, soon follows. The blood leaves the
extremities, to keep the internal organs warm. The extremities freeze.
Then the temperature in the core of the body begins to drop. The
chemical reactions that occur every second, that supply energy and
nutrients to every cell in the body, slow down. Eventually, they slow to
the point where life can no longer be sustained.

Whoever dumped poor Dewey in that drop box was condemning him to a
virtually certain, cruel death.

But, he didn't freeze to death, of course.

And thus began the incredible story of how Dewey came to live in the
library in the small farming community of Spencer, Iowa.

The book is as much about life in the small Iowa farming community, as
it is about this marvelous cat that became such an important part of it.
Some chapters hardly mention Dewey at all, as the book weaves the
complex story of the background of Spencer, Iowa, and the people who
live there.

The librarian, Vicki Myron, grew up on a farm outside of Spencer. She
had a very difficult life: a bad marriage, followed by single
motherhood. Opportunities were few, and difficult for her.

The book was especially interesting to me. I grew up about 100 miles
north of Iowa. I know many of the cities in Iowa; I've been in, or at
least driven through most of them. I dated a woman who grew up on a
small farm in Iowa, for a long time. Vicki graduated from Mankato State
University, In Minnesota. My older brother went there.

Southern and western Minnesota is almost exactly like Iowa: mile after
mile of corn. The land isn't as flat, but from the top of a small rise,
all you can see is farmland. Mostly the corn that Iowa is so famous for.
And every 20 or 30 miles, there is a small town. Farming communities
just like Spencer, Iowa.

Where Dewey lived. In the library.

It is a truly wonderful book.

Those of you who live overseas, or even in different parts of the USA,
won't find it as familiar as I did. But the book is so well written,
with so much detail and character development, you will find yourself
immersed in the culture of Spencer, Iowa, just as much as I was.

And, although I have said a lot about Spencer, Iowa; the book IS really
about the most wonderful cat you could ever possibly imagine.

This is without a doubt one of the very best books I have read for a
very, very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

"Gandalf" wrote in message
...
I received a copy of this book for Christmas, from my wonderful elderly
mother.

I doubt if I own more than 3 or 4 hard cover books that aren't
textbooks, or technical manuals.

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

He looks out of the photograph *directly* into your eyes, his head
slightly tilted ever so slightly to one side. He has the amber eyes that
some orange tabbies have. The kind that you can just get lost in.

Somebody dumps the yet to be named kitten in the book return box on a
day in January when the temperature was -15F. That's -26C, for those
using the metric system. It's really, really, really cold.

I have spent time outdoors when it's been -15F, (and much colder). It
can only be described as brutally, dangerously cold. Where I live, we
will get temperatures this cold many times every winter. With the
warmest and most expensive cold weather clothing I can afford, I can
only stay outdoors for a few hours, before my hands, and especially my
feet, start to get dangerously cold. Frostbite, which means frozen skin,
muscles, tendons and blood vessels, soon follows. The blood leaves the
extremities, to keep the internal organs warm. The extremities freeze.
Then the temperature in the core of the body begins to drop. The
chemical reactions that occur every second, that supply energy and
nutrients to every cell in the body, slow down. Eventually, they slow to
the point where life can no longer be sustained.

Whoever dumped poor Dewey in that drop box was condemning him to a
virtually certain, cruel death.

But, he didn't freeze to death, of course.

And thus began the incredible story of how Dewey came to live in the
library in the small farming community of Spencer, Iowa.

The book is as much about life in the small Iowa farming community, as
it is about this marvelous cat that became such an important part of it.
Some chapters hardly mention Dewey at all, as the book weaves the
complex story of the background of Spencer, Iowa, and the people who
live there.

The librarian, Vicki Myron, grew up on a farm outside of Spencer. She
had a very difficult life: a bad marriage, followed by single
motherhood. Opportunities were few, and difficult for her.

The book was especially interesting to me. I grew up about 100 miles
north of Iowa. I know many of the cities in Iowa; I've been in, or at
least driven through most of them. I dated a woman who grew up on a
small farm in Iowa, for a long time. Vicki graduated from Mankato State
University, In Minnesota. My older brother went there.

Southern and western Minnesota is almost exactly like Iowa: mile after
mile of corn. The land isn't as flat, but from the top of a small rise,
all you can see is farmland. Mostly the corn that Iowa is so famous for.
And every 20 or 30 miles, there is a small town. Farming communities
just like Spencer, Iowa.

Where Dewey lived. In the library.

It is a truly wonderful book.

Those of you who live overseas, or even in different parts of the USA,
won't find it as familiar as I did. But the book is so well written,
with so much detail and character development, you will find yourself
immersed in the culture of Spencer, Iowa, just as much as I was.

And, although I have said a lot about Spencer, Iowa; the book IS really
about the most wonderful cat you could ever possibly imagine.

This is without a doubt one of the very best books I have read for a
very, very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^


I haven't read this book, because I know it will absolutely wreck me. I
was working in the New York Historical Society when "Dewey" came out, and
somebody tacked a review to the bulletin board with the note "Can we have a
cat? Please?" Sigh. Wasn't likely to happen. But I would have loved
it.


--
Theresa and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

Stinky Forever: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

The author has a new kitten, an orange and white bitty who was found in
the middle of the road by Sue Selzer. More on her discovery can be read
he http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...-new-cat_N.htm

Adorable baby!

Mishi

"Mishi" wrote in message
...
The author has a new kitten, an orange and white bitty who was found in
the middle of the road by Sue Selzer. More on her discovery can be read
he
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...-new-cat_N.htm

Adorable baby!

Mishi


Yay! I'm so glad.


--
Theresa and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

Stinky Forever: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

I'm glad you're enjoying the book I need to get a copy for myself.
Did your Mother's gift ever arrive?
Love
Kyla

"Gandalf"
I received a copy of this book for Christmas, from my wonderful elderly
mother.

I doubt if I own more than 3 or 4 hard cover books that aren't
textbooks, or technical manuals.

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

He looks out of the photograph *directly* into your eyes, his head
slightly tilted ever so slightly to one side. He has the amber eyes that
some orange tabbies have. The kind that you can just get lost in.

Somebody dumps the yet to be named kitten in the book return box on a
day in January when the temperature was -15F. That's -26C, for those
using the metric system. It's really, really, really cold.

I have spent time outdoors when it's been -15F, (and much colder). It
can only be described as brutally, dangerously cold. Where I live, we
will get temperatures this cold many times every winter. With the
warmest and most expensive cold weather clothing I can afford, I can
only stay outdoors for a few hours, before my hands, and especially my
feet, start to get dangerously cold. Frostbite, which means frozen skin,
muscles, tendons and blood vessels, soon follows. The blood leaves the
extremities, to keep the internal organs warm. The extremities freeze.
Then the temperature in the core of the body begins to drop. The
chemical reactions that occur every second, that supply energy and
nutrients to every cell in the body, slow down. Eventually, they slow to
the point where life can no longer be sustained.

Whoever dumped poor Dewey in that drop box was condemning him to a
virtually certain, cruel death.

But, he didn't freeze to death, of course.

And thus began the incredible story of how Dewey came to live in the
library in the small farming community of Spencer, Iowa.

The book is as much about life in the small Iowa farming community, as
it is about this marvelous cat that became such an important part of it.
Some chapters hardly mention Dewey at all, as the book weaves the
complex story of the background of Spencer, Iowa, and the people who
live there.

The librarian, Vicki Myron, grew up on a farm outside of Spencer. She
had a very difficult life: a bad marriage, followed by single
motherhood. Opportunities were few, and difficult for her.

The book was especially interesting to me. I grew up about 100 miles
north of Iowa. I know many of the cities in Iowa; I've been in, or at
least driven through most of them. I dated a woman who grew up on a
small farm in Iowa, for a long time. Vicki graduated from Mankato State
University, In Minnesota. My older brother went there.

Southern and western Minnesota is almost exactly like Iowa: mile after
mile of corn. The land isn't as flat, but from the top of a small rise,
all you can see is farmland. Mostly the corn that Iowa is so famous for.
And every 20 or 30 miles, there is a small town. Farming communities
just like Spencer, Iowa.

Where Dewey lived. In the library.

It is a truly wonderful book.

Those of you who live overseas, or even in different parts of the USA,
won't find it as familiar as I did. But the book is so well written,
with so much detail and character development, you will find yourself
immersed in the culture of Spencer, Iowa, just as much as I was.

And, although I have said a lot about Spencer, Iowa; the book IS really
about the most wonderful cat you could ever possibly imagine.

This is without a doubt one of the very best books I have read for a
very, very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 14:45:14 -0800, "Kyla =^..^="
wrote:

I'm glad you're enjoying the book I need to get a copy for myself.
Did your Mother's gift ever arrive?
Love
Kyla

Yes; with overnight shipping, it showed up on Dec 24th.

"Gandalf"
I received a copy of this book for Christmas, from my wonderful elderly
mother.

I doubt if I own more than 3 or 4 hard cover books that aren't
textbooks, or technical manuals.

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

He looks out of the photograph *directly* into your eyes, his head
slightly tilted ever so slightly to one side. He has the amber eyes that
some orange tabbies have. The kind that you can just get lost in.

Somebody dumps the yet to be named kitten in the book return box on a
day in January when the temperature was -15F. That's -26C, for those
using the metric system. It's really, really, really cold.

I have spent time outdoors when it's been -15F, (and much colder). It
can only be described as brutally, dangerously cold. Where I live, we
will get temperatures this cold many times every winter. With the
warmest and most expensive cold weather clothing I can afford, I can
only stay outdoors for a few hours, before my hands, and especially my
feet, start to get dangerously cold. Frostbite, which means frozen skin,
muscles, tendons and blood vessels, soon follows. The blood leaves the
extremities, to keep the internal organs warm. The extremities freeze.
Then the temperature in the core of the body begins to drop. The
chemical reactions that occur every second, that supply energy and
nutrients to every cell in the body, slow down. Eventually, they slow to
the point where life can no longer be sustained.

Whoever dumped poor Dewey in that drop box was condemning him to a
virtually certain, cruel death.

But, he didn't freeze to death, of course.

And thus began the incredible story of how Dewey came to live in the
library in the small farming community of Spencer, Iowa.

The book is as much about life in the small Iowa farming community, as
it is about this marvelous cat that became such an important part of it.
Some chapters hardly mention Dewey at all, as the book weaves the
complex story of the background of Spencer, Iowa, and the people who
live there.

The librarian, Vicki Myron, grew up on a farm outside of Spencer. She
had a very difficult life: a bad marriage, followed by single
motherhood. Opportunities were few, and difficult for her.

The book was especially interesting to me. I grew up about 100 miles
north of Iowa. I know many of the cities in Iowa; I've been in, or at
least driven through most of them. I dated a woman who grew up on a
small farm in Iowa, for a long time. Vicki graduated from Mankato State
University, In Minnesota. My older brother went there.

Southern and western Minnesota is almost exactly like Iowa: mile after
mile of corn. The land isn't as flat, but from the top of a small rise,
all you can see is farmland. Mostly the corn that Iowa is so famous for.
And every 20 or 30 miles, there is a small town. Farming communities
just like Spencer, Iowa.

Where Dewey lived. In the library.

It is a truly wonderful book.

Those of you who live overseas, or even in different parts of the USA,
won't find it as familiar as I did. But the book is so well written,
with so much detail and character development, you will find yourself
immersed in the culture of Spencer, Iowa, just as much as I was.

And, although I have said a lot about Spencer, Iowa; the book IS really
about the most wonderful cat you could ever possibly imagine.

This is without a doubt one of the very best books I have read for a
very, very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

Every day is a treasure with Kenzie; I try to treat them that way. There
will only be so many, and then there will never, ever, be any more.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

On Jan 3, 7:57*am, Mishi wrote:
The author has a new kitten, an orange and white bitty who was found in
the middle of the road by Sue Selzer. More on her discovery can be read
hehttp://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...-new-cat_N.htm

Adorable baby!

Mishi

Oh, she's so cute, she looks a lot like Dewey, baby Page.

Candace

On Jan 3, 7:36*pm, Candace wrote:
On Jan 3, 7:57*am, Mishi wrote:

The author has a new kitten, an orange and white bitty who was found in
the middle of the road by Sue Selzer. More on her discovery can be read
hehttp://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...new-cat_N..htm

Adorable baby!

Mishi

That's a kitten?!? I wonder how large a cat she's going to be?
Julie

Gandalf wrote:

On the dust cover is a very extraordinary photograph of the famous
Dewey.

He is a long hair orange tabby, with a bit of white around his mouth,
and on his neck.

I just put a hold on this book at my library. I also put holds on two
other cat books, "The Power of Purrs", about rescuing and fostering
stray cats, and "A Cat Named Squeeky", another stray cat story (with
an adorable painting of the main character on the cover). I guess I'll
be reading a lot about cats in coming months!

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)