If your cat looks like this…
…then there’s a look-alike contest going on over on Flickr that’s just meowing out your name!
Who’s Dewey, you ask? I’ll tell you…
It all started back in 1988, when the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa, received a visitor. Just a few weeks old when he was dropped into the book return slot, Dewey had been abandoned by his owner. Thankfully, kind-hearted library director Vicki Myron took the little guy into the library, where he quickly charmed the staff, the visitors, the town, the state and finally the world.
Before passing away, Dewey lived in the Spencer Library for nearly 20 years. Longtime furiend and caretaker Myron has written a book about Dewey with Bret Witter, a book that tells the story of perhaps the most well-read cat in the world. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter:
After the weekend, the drop box would also be full of books, so every Monday I loaded them onto one of our book carts so the clerks could process and shelve them later in the day. When I came back with the cart on this particular Monday morning, Jean was standing quietly in the middle of the room.
“I heard a noise.”
“What kind of noise?”
“From the drop box. I think it’s an animal.”
“A what?”
“An animal. I think there’s an animal in the drop box.”
That was when I heard it, a low rumble from under the metal cover. It didn’t sound like an animal. It sounded more like an old man struggling to clear his throat. But I doubted it was an old man. The opening at the top of the chute was only a few inches wide, so that would be quite a squeeze. It was an animal, I had little doubt of that, but what kind? I got down on my knees, reached over to the lid, and hoped for a chipmunk.
The first thing I felt was a blast of freezing air. Someone had jammed a book into the return slot, wedging it open. It was as cold in the box as it was outside; maybe colder, since the box was lined with metal. You could have kept frozen meat in there. I was still catching my breath when I saw the kitten.
Find out more about Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by going here and here, and you can watch a short video showing Dewey in action here.
And Dewey look-alikes have a chance to win one of 5 signed copies of the book and a Dewey jigsaw puzzle if they enter the contest! Sweetness!
I just visited several sites and read about the book and an excerpt. I went on my online library network and reserved a copy. I can’t wait to read it!
Bless his little heart. And bless those wonderful people who took him into the library. He must have had such a strong spirit to make it through that. The patrons and staff of that library were lucky people. I’m sure he brought them much joy.
Boy, I wish I was oranje. And floofy. And a tabby. So I cood enter this grate contest. I’m gonna order that book NOW!
I don’t look like a cat, so BOL I can’t enter. BOL
Dewey is handsome kitty.
I have read the book. It was really good, but he dies a tragic sad death at the end. I know Vicki would try to point out how great his life was, and that he got to die the best way. I agree, but the sadness has sent me to depression, thinking of my own cat who passed away five years ago.
May Dewey live on in Rainbow Bridge, he has every right to.