Serious journalists sometimes have to sacrifice life and limb in the pursuit of a story. And that's how I found myself in the middle of the children's section in the San Anselmo Library a couple Fridays ago, surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty canines and their teeth-baring, pint-sized, vicious cohorts...
Yeah, OK...not really.
My latest story is about a program for children's literacy run by the Marin Humane Society, in which kids practice their skills by reading out loud to adorable pups who're trained for this sort of thing. My editor fully intended it to be a mere "fluff" piece, with the goal of me embarrassing myself by giving the concept a go--except that, instead of the usual happy-doggie children's books, he wanted me to read Old Yeller or Where the Red Fern Grows. He's a nice man--a family man, even--but he can be a rather twisted so-and-so when he wants to be.
When it came time for my turn--and believe me, hordes of cute kids had to be mowed down for the chance--I opted for Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. I figured the dog would appreciate a little over-wrought intellectualism and mind-twisting philosophizing. As it turns out, she did not. Her trainer had to ply the poor pooch with treats to make her--politely--feign interest.
[PICTURED: Top--"Mitzy"; the rest--"Tigger"]
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