Cookie’s (Holiday) Book Club: “Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan! A Love Story”
Hello from Cookie! The Holidays sure have been keeping me busy…
Have you tried these Santa-hats? Delicious! And the pine-flavored water they put in the dish under the Christmas tree is a new favorite of mine too. But enough about holiday treats…let’s talk about a great book featuring dogs that is truly in the spirit of the season. My Mama Diana recently read an article in the New York Times titled “A Blind Man’s Story, As Seen and Told by Dogs” – here’s the link:
The article told the story of a New York City man named Lloyd Burlingame, who had a career as both Broadway set designer and a chair of the design department of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University before he lost his eyesight due to illness. Initially getting by with just a cane, Lloyd was one day sent into busy traffic by a cruel person. Traumatized, Lloyd withdrew from going out for months before finding the courage and resources to seek out a guide dog. He was eventually paired with a Labrador named Hickory from The Seeing Eye Guide-Dog School in Morristown, New Jersey. After training with Hickory, Mr. Burlingame was once again able to navigate New York City on his own. He began to write journal entries about his daily adventures in the city with Hickory, and soon had the idea that if he wrote the entries from Hickory’s “first-dog” perspective they would be more enjoyable. Soon he found many people, friends and strangers alike were following the chronicles of Hickory and were sharing them on email. This continued through the eight years of Hickory’s service, and sustained when Mr. Burlinghame’s second guide dog Kemp joined him and started “writing” too. These wonderful stories were compiled by Mr. Burlinghame to form the book “Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan! A Love Story” which he self-published this year. Some standout stories in the book include Hickory’s transition from a pup at the Seeing Eye school to full-blown guide dog; when veteran Opera-attendee Kemp howled along with Diva Renee Fleming at Carnegie Hall, taking walks in the city after Hurricane Floyd, visiting Washington, D.C., and the every day temptations of things like birthday cake, meatballs, and Thanksgiving turkey (I can identify!).
“Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan! A Love Story” is available both in hardcover and ebook form; we found it for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. As my Mama says, this book is such a genuine account of the nature of human and canine relationships, and just how amazing they can be. The true tales of Hickory, Kemp, and Lloyd Burlingame will entertain readers of all ages. It’s a wonderful book to read with your family during these holidays or any time of year. I personally loved all the cute dog pictures of Hickory and Kemp from all their adventures.
I hope you are enjoying this Holiday Season as much as I am enjoying my first one. More about that soon! Woofs, Cookie
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Cookie of Katonah 
December 13, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Very interesting, Diana. We have a friend who is very involved in Guide Dogs for the Blind, a charity that provides blind people with dogs. It is a lifeline for people who cannot see – they are able to get back into life. Did you know that Henry Fielding, the 18th century novelist who wrote Tom Jones, had a blind brother who became a magistrate in the criminal courts of London and who could identify criminals by their voices? The underworld called him the Black Beak. Love, Mom
December 13, 2012 at 5:53 pm
That’s so cool…did not know that. Glad you enjoyed the post. 🙂