Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan is published by William Morrow. It tells the story of my adventures with Atticus M. Finch, a little dog of some distinction. You can also find our column in the NorthCountry News.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Want To Know More About Atticus?

We've only been in Jackson for four months but I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave. Atticus and I continue to get to know the nooks and crannies of this remarkable place and the more we see, the more attached we become to it. And yet as special as the mountains, rivers and pastoral settings are, the people of Jackson are pretty special themselves. I’ve never been to a friendlier community. On our thrice daily walks we are greeted as if we’ve lived here our entire lives.

In Jackson, nature will always get top billing and from what I’ve seen most of those who live here understand that and appreciate it and hope to keep Jackson the way it is. There is sense of reverence in putting the community first, whether from the newcomer or the native. I like that.

Many we meet here want to know more about Atticus, so I’ve made it a bit easier. In the right hand margin of this blog you will see a section that reads: “Get to Know Us through Some of Our More Popular Posts”. This will help you navigate around these pages and find the meat between the bones. Simply click on any of these and you will be linked immediately to that story. Of course there are many other posts I think you'll like, too, but these will give you a shortcut in getting to know this little dog I am lucky enough to call my friend.

The bottom two posts show a list of the mountains hiked during our two winters of fundraising, first for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, then for Angell Animal Medical Center. Click on those and you will see a the people and animals those peaks were hiked for. Above that are highlighted trip reports from our hikes and other stories.
You will see why we set out to hike the 48 4,000-footers twice in the 90 days of winter in the fight against cancer and then again for MSPCA Angell. You will read about how Atticus lost his eye sight, and then had it returned through the goodness of friends. How he was savagely attacked by another dog and we feared he'd lose his life, only to be honored at the JFK Presidential Library six nights later as one of the MSPCA's heroes of the year. But more than anything you will read about the relationship he and I share and the part the White Mountains have played in that.

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