Do You Have a Question for Tom & Atticus?

Here’s your chance to ask Tom and Atticus a question and have it in the paperback edition of Following Atticus. 

Jess Lahey, a wonderful writer and blogger, is interviewing me now, and we’ll be printing the interview at the end of the book.  We thought it would be fun to choose one question from a Facebook friend to answer in the interview.  We will give you credit for the question in the book.   

Give it some thought, be original, and check out the questions that were asked previously to yours so there are no duplicates.

To submit your question go to the Following Atticus Facebook page and ask it under the proper post.  Jess and I will choose the one that works best for us. 

Thank you for participating!

Following Atticus Receives Two Silver Medals From The Nautilus Book Awards

We are pleased to announce that Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship is a double silver medal winner in the 2012 Nautilus Book Awards. 

The Nautilus Book Award “recognizes books and audio books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living, and positive social change, while at the same time they stimulate the ‘imagination’ and offer the reader ‘new possibilities’ for a better life and a better world.”

Following Atticus received a silver medal for Animals/Nature and for Memoir/Personal Journey.

In past years Nautilus Book Awards have gone to such notables as His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Deepak Chopra, M.D.; Barbara Kingsolver; Marianne Williamson; Thich Nhat Hanh; Eckart Tolle; Rhonda Byrne; Joel Osteen; Andrew Weil, M.D.; Gary Zukov; Mariel Hemingway; and Judy Collins.

The Nautilus website states: “We look for distinguished literary and heartfelt contributions to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership, and positive social change as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspirational reading for children, teens, and young adults.” 

We are proud and honored to be a double winner and happy for our agent, Brian DeFiore; our editor, Cassie Jones Morgan; and for our publisher, William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. And we weren’t the only books published by HarperCollins that won Nautilus Book Awards this year.  Here’s the entire list of HarperCollins winners:

SILVER

The Quiet World by Douglas Brinkley -  Ecology / Environment

Love Wins by Rob Bell -  Religion / Spirituality - Western Traditions

Wabi Sabi Love – by Ariel Ford – Relationships

An Alter in the World –by Barbara Brown Taylor – Religion/Spirituality – Western Traditions (unacknowledged winner from 2011)

DOUBLE SILVER

Following Atticus – by Tom Ryan – Animals/Nature and Memoir/Personal Journey  (William Morrow)

GOLD
God is not a Christian by Bishop Desmond Tutu – Religion/Spirituality – Western Traditions

If you wish to learn more about the Nautilus Book Awards and to see how the winners are chosen click on this link and it will take you to their website.

Need Your Faith In Humanity Restored?

"Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have one before us..." ~ Joseph Campbell

90 Second Book Reviews Reviews Following Atticus: "It paints a picture of adversity and shows how much guts and love count."

This is our 1,000th post on this blog and it's regarding a great book review of Following Atticus that came out of the blue.  The '90 Second Book Review' gives our story high marks and I'm grateful for their consideration.

The review states: "If you are fearful, this is a book you need to read. If you like to hike or backpack, it' also is a "must read." If you have a special dog in your life, this is your book. And if you are made of stone--like Tom Ryan's late father–it warns you that you are hiking a dangerous trail, more dangerous than any described in Following Atticus."

And they go on to rank Following Atticus on the following five categories: Importance to Society; Importance to You; Fun Read; Quality of Writing and Presentation; Perspective Changer; and Over-all Must-Read Rating.  These are ranked from zero to five, with five being the highest.

To read the entire review click here. 

A Letter About Following Atticus From A Reader

A writer longs to connect. 

He wants his words to find the right set of eyes, pierce them, and fall directly into his reader's heart.  Occassionally, if we are fortunate enough, it happens.  And better yet, there are times a person lets you know when your words have taken them home again.  That's the most fulfilling part about being a writer.  Yes, making a living off of it is nice, and so are book sales, and bestseller lists - but more than anything it's the connection that counts.

On Monday we celebrated Atticus's tenth birthday by telling our blog, Twitter, and Facebook followers that if we made the New York Times bestseller list during his birthday week (the rating period goes through this Saturday), we'd donate a $1,000 to both the Jimmy Fund and to Angell Animal Medical Center.  We then urged people to buy Following Atticus this week to read it (if they haven't already), or to buy it for those they cared about.  What has transpired has been beyond my wildest dreams.  We may or may not make the New York Times bestseller list, but our numbers on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com have jumped to new highs.  Even better is the outpouring of emotion that has come with so many of the posts, emails, and tweets.  It's really been something special.

The responses have been so numerous that I could not possibly post all of them but today I asked one emailer for permission to make her message public.  I hers out of so many worthy candidates for various reasons.  I think, however, the main reason is because it was most indicative of the majority of messages we've received. 

So many people have bought several copies of Following Atticus in its various forms (some of have bought it in ebook, hardcover, and in its audio form as well) and read it or listened to it, but then went right ahead and bought several more copies for other people in their life.

I think I can speak for everyone who is involved in the publishing of Following Atticus by saying that the response has been beyond remarkable.  It's been jaw-dropping. 

So thank you all for sharing your stories with us. 

Thank you for revealing your hearts.

And thank you for allowing me to tell the story of my friend, a most unusual little dog.

Here's what Janice from Saskatchewan, Canada had to say about Following Atticus...

I first learned about your book after my husband went out looking for dog booties earlier this year (incidentally for our own miniature schnauzer "Mausi", who had her first birthday last month). He came home with a set of muttluks, and attached to them was a promo card for your book. I was instantly intrigued - our Mausi is such an amazing little dog in her own right, so I was curious about what sort of story you and Atticus could tell. I kept the card in front of my keyboard for the next couple of weeks, as a reminder to snag the book when I was done with the series I was reading at the time.

I purchased the ebook in mid-February - and I am so glad that I did. I found so much joy and wisdom and more than a few tears every time I turned on my kindle. My only regret is that it didn't count towards the NYT push you started yesterday - so in honor of Atticus's birthday and the story you've shared, last night I went to amazon.com and bought several more ebooks (to share with my family), and a hardcover version to grace our own living room. I hope you make it to the bestseller list - your story deserves to be spread far and wide.

Thank you so much,
Janice, Clark, and Mausi
Saskatchewan, Canada - where the winters can be nasty too, except everything here is flat.

On March 12th Atticus Maxwell Finch Turns 10; Help Us Give To The Jimmy Fund and MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center

(A Ken Stampfer photograph.)

On March 12^th Atticus Maxwell Finch will turn 10-years old.

What a decade it’s been.  What a life he’s lived.  And what a gift he’s given me.  Of course you already know all of this if you’ve read Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, andan Extraordinary Friendship, our shared memoir.

Ten years ago Atticus shocked his breeder, Paige Foster, when he was born an only puppy.  She was expecting more puppies to come out of his mother, and this was something she was never wrong about - until this night.  And from the first moment she held his tiny body in her hands Paige could feel there was something different about him – something special. During the first few weeks of his life Paige spent countless hours alone with the 'different' little puppy and this woman who led a life that was anything but charmed decided that for once, she would keep a puppy and not sell him as she had done with the more than the thousand she’d bred before.  Injuries she had sustained in an accident six months prior and had never healed would soon get better.  

That’s when I entered the picture.  I had lost Maxwell Garrison Gillis, an elderly miniature schnauzer I rescued less than a year and a half earlier.  My heart was broken and I wanted it fixed.  I searched for breeders through an on-line database and fate brought Paige and I together.  She showed me all the puppies she had for sale but when I didn’t see one I wanted, she asked me just what I was looking for.  I told her it was not so much about a certain look as it was a feel.  I told her how ‘Max’ had started to heal my jaded life and how his passing had broken that now-tender heart.

Paige then did something most others wouldn’t consider.  Paige was a woman with little happiness and she didn’t have many belongings.  All she really had that meant anything to her was that one special puppy.  But through our correspondence she believed that the same qualities he had within him that helped heal her could also heal me, and perhaps finish the job of saving me from myself that ‘Max’ had started.  Within a couple of days she sent Atticus to me and neither one of us could possibly understand how her selfless act would set the wheels of change in motion in so many lives. 

In the years since then much has transpired – enough to fill a book. 
Atticus did indeed finish the job Max started and brought me home to myself.  As I write in Following Atticus, “In telling the story of my friend, Atticus M. Finch, I often think of the something Antoine de Saint Exupery wrote, ‘Perhaps the act of love is my gently leading you back to yourself.’ For that’s what this little dog did. He led, I followed, and in the end I became the man I dreamed of being when I was a little boy.”      

If you’ve read the book you know how important the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Angell Animal Medical Center are to us.  Over the course of two winters we climbed 147 4,000-foot peaks and raised thousands of dollars for the fight against cancer and for animals in need.
To mark Atticus’s tenth birthday I wanted to do something a little bit different with our book.  Many of you have already read it.  Some have even bought it for others.  And some still plan to buy it for themselves – and for others.  It is my hope that if you plan to read Following Atticus or to give it to someone else, that you buy it on March 12^th, his birthday, or in the few days following it.  If enough people buy it that week we’ll make it to the New York Times bestseller list for the week and if we do we’ll donate a $1,000 to the Jimmy Fund and a $1,000 to Angell Animal Medical Center. 

On March 12^th, we’ll post a reminder on our Facebook page along with the Following Atticus book trailer and ask you to share it with a note about what we hope to achieve.  It would be great if you would share this with your Facebook friends.

We’ve yet to grab the attention of the national media.  However, we’ve been wonderfully successful because of you, our readers, and your word of mouth.  It has meant all the difference.  We’ve not made the NY Times bestseller list yet but there have been weeks when we haven’t been far off.  We have been on the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) bestseller list in each of the last seven months, and we’ve made it to the Top 10 of the Sunday Times of London (UK).  With your help and continued support, we will make it to the NY Times list soon enough.  And if we do it for the week of Atticus’s birthday, we’ll give back to those two organizations we believe in.  So pass the word – March 12 is the day!

(A note: not all booksellers report their sales to the New York Times.  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, I-Tunes, Powells, and many of the bigger independent booksellers do.  It doesn’t matter whether you buy the hardcover or download an e-book.  All sales go towards making the list.)

Thank you for reading our story – a story that was started by the selflessness of a remarkable woman ten years ago and a thousand miles away.

Following Atticus Is Featured On New Hampshire Chronicle

Last Friday evening Atticus and I were featured on New Hampshire Chronicle during a six minute clip. We appreciate the coverage from WMUR New Hampshire, an ABC affiliate. You can see the footage by clicking here.

Following Atticus: The Book Trailer

"Tis not to late to seek a newer world..."

There is a joy and a simplicity I feel when walking with Atticus. He is always just who he is. There is no play-acting, no posing, no trying to slip into some role that will make him more appreciated, and he never worries about fitting in whatsoever.

Over the past six months we've hiked fewer peaks than we have over similar stretches in the last six years. The difference being that our book was published and we went on tour. We continue to do appearances throughout New England and I'm fortified by the sheer numbers of folks who turn out. Of course Atticus could care less who is there. In his own Taoist way he's there and I'm there and that's all that matters. So instead of sitting up preening for the appreciative audience, he walks in, I pick him up, stand in front of the crowd with him sitting in the crook of my arm, and begin to tell our story. Before long he rests his head on my shoulder and falls asleep, his tender snores soothe my ears. After that I place him on the table and he lies down in front of all those people who turned out to see him and goes back to sleep. Occasionally he'll flop and ear, or twitch one of his bushy white eyebrows. Rarely does he do more than that.

Would any of us be so composed and relaxed in front of an excited crowd?

Atticus and I are comfortable pretty much wherever we go. Perhaps it came from the earliest days when I carried him everywhere I went when he was but a wee pup. Or maybe it's because we just fit well together and always have – as if we were made for each other. Perhaps it's all the mountains we’ve climbed or how each of us has faced our share of health issues over the past few years - always side by side. Whatever the reason, he is simply who he is and I take comfort in that.

Not long ago we were in front of a standing room only crowd in Cambridge, Massachusetts and I spoke as I always do - from the cuff, perhaps with a bit of wit and Tourette's mixed in for danger. (One never knows what I will say next. Heck, I don’t even know.) Someone asked a question and it had to do with defining our story. Oh, the places I could go with such a question. And how to boil it down into a simple answer. After all, there are many messages in Following Atticus. What I came up with was something that sounded like the following: "When we are little and standing in front of our bedroom mirror, we dream of hitting the winning homerun in the World Series, catching the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, being elected president, or being given some great award. We dream innocently of being great. But then life comes along and through the decades it wears us down and before long we are thirty or forty...or fifty, and those dreams of our youth are forgotten. No one dreams of growing up to sit in a cubicle five days a week, or beating his wife, or becoming an alcoholic. So our story is how one little dog led me back to myself, led me back to being that little boy and all the wonders he dreamed of and we came to it by crossing over all these beautiful mountains in New Hampshire."

Tennyson was correct when he said, "Tis not too late to seek a newer world.” It's never too late to pick up where we left off when innocence left off – no matter how old we are.

Last night I sat with a friend who is struggling in life - truly struggling. He is mired in fear and has a difficult time making a right step. He gets glimpses of magic but falls back on the old dysfunctions that nurtured his shortcomings and he sits and he doubts and chooses to believe in anything but happy endings. But all I could think about was how at any time in life he can start anew 'to seek his newer world...' All he has to do is to take a step, a blind step, perhaps even a giant step into the unknown. I thought off how life had dealt this fellow a raw deal but at the same time while his life was in ruins he still has a choice to make. That's when I thought of something Rumi wrote: "“Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth.”

So what does all of this have to do with a little dog and the magnificent White Mountains we live in? Everything.

There was a time when I faced my fears and made that same kind of leap of faith.  I followed a little dog into these mountains – two neophytes. We climbed the 48 4,000-footers in spring and summer; then in fall and winter. And what I discovered was this great, mysterious, and mythic land was the medicine I needed. Of course Atticus was my avatar; my guide back to myself for he held the innocence I had lost.

We didn't know what we couldn't do when we set out to hike 96 peaks in 90 days of one winter. We simply went because we found peace, tranquility, and virtue in the journey up and over those summits and down into the shadowy valleys.

After sitting in a dark and brooding room last night down in Massachusetts, with a friend who appears to have a difficult time believing he could make such a leap, I'm half ashamed to say that some of his hopelessness rubbed off on me. But when Atticus and I returned to the mountains and stepped onto a forest path this morning, all of that changed. We were back where we belong.

In the crunch of the snow underfoot, in the passing under the archway of trees, in the climb up and away from what once held me down, we arose as we always do, and conquered what I needed to conquer, what we all need to face and defeat time and again in life. 

Climbing mountains is a wonderful metaphor in life, in ascending beyond doubts and distractions that have us believing we can’t be great or that our own personal story doesn’t matter. 

Nature offers up a wonderful setting for us to regain what it means to be human.  (And how ironic that I became more human by getting away from society and following a little dog.) 

Today, as we sat alone on a little summit in solitude and the sun felt warmer than it should in February, I felt clean and healthy but thoughts of last night continued to race through my mind.  But to my left, about five feet away, without a care in the world, sat little Atticus – content.  I needed that mountain today.  But more so I needed that little guide who led me to the top and then had me breathing just as simply and happily as he was when taking in the view. 

“’Tis not too late to seek a newer world…”

Provincetown Sojourn

 

For each of the past three winters, Atticus and I have headed to the Outer Cape and rented an affordable off-season house in Provincetown. We go for the walks on the beach, we go for a change of pace, but more than anything, we go for the vast horizons and the incredible light. We'll always love mountains best, but it's great to get to the sea as well. And each time we return to the beach it's a return to Atti's childhood (or is that puppyhood?). When he was young we spent our mornings and evenings romping on the beach at Plum Island. We don't get back to Plum Island very often any more, but that's all the more reason for us to get out to PTown once a year in what is the darkest season in the mountains.

AMC Outdoors Features 'Following Atticus'

"Reading Following Atticus can feel like taking a long walk, or a
series of walks, with a great storyteller." - Kristen Laine, AMC Outdoors

This morning, the online edition of February's AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) Outdoors ran a column about Following Atticus.  Kristen Laine is a wonderful writer and aptly titled her piece "Following Atticus Home".  She wowed us with her ability to weave words and was the first reviewer to connect the dots between father and son so completely.  The relationship I had with my father, Jack Ryan, was sandwiched between her opening and closing paragraphs that dealt with her relationship with her own father.  It was well done.  

Of course she touched on Atticus M. Finch, my diminutive hiking partner who brought us me to this point in my life and she mentioned the mountains we have grown to love and ultimately call our home. 

We are thrilled that the AMC embraced our story, especially since White Mountain historians Steve Smith and Mike Dickerman believe Following Atticus is the first nationally published books about these great peaks.  Therefore, the mission of the AMC goes hand in hand with our love of this region.

Perhaps our favorite sentence from Kristen's column is "Reading Following Atticus can feel like taking a long walk, or a series of walks, with a great storyteller."  But there's so much more to like about it.  See for yourself by reading the entire piece here.

Of Fox and Dog and Man

Neither Atticus nor I are big fans of the rain.  And when it’s freezing rain, as it is this morning, we’d rather just stay inside and wait it out.  But nature calls – in more ways than one – and we respond.  So about eight o’clock we forced ourselves out into the elements and hurried through the cathedral pines, the heavy wet drops, the hissing wind of Moseley Woods here in Newburyport for our morning constitutional. 

The old trees groaned and slick pine needles slid underfoot.  Man and dog both shivered from time to time as we walked through the storm.  Some days, no matter what you are wearing, there is no holding out the raw and the cold.  Today is such a day. 

Walking over the wet roots and hard, brown earth I was distracted by thoughts of tonight’s event at Porter Square Books.  I’ll read from the book while Atticus sleeps, then I’ll pick him up and take questions from the audience.  As is the case with every event I wonder just what I’ll say.  I never really know, and yet something always comes to me.  As soon as the introduction ends and the audience looks at me expectantly my mouth starts moving and I tell our story.  I also found myself wondering about the weather and how it would make for driving in busy Cambridge tonight.  The stop and go traffic; the icy or snowy roads; the slap-slap-slap of the windshield wipers.  Will parking be difficult?  What about the escape from the hectic city after the event? 

I pulled the zipper of my sweater a little higher to keep out the cold and shivered once again as rain drops fell inside my collar. 

Meanwhile Atticus stopped, squatted, did what he had to do, and then he turned right around and we started back the way we came.  No need to stay out in this weather longer than we have to.

As we headed towards our car I realized that we weren’t alone in the woods after all.  Sitting on the side of the trail, his hair wet and dark, sat a beautiful fox.  He was watching us.  Upon noticing him Atticus perked right up and before approaching looked back at me. 

“Hold on, Little Bug.  Let him be,” I said.  So Atticus took a seat and fox and dog and man looked at each other.  He and Atticus looked at each other with curiosity while I took in both of them with a bit wonder.

Yesterday, while moving through these same quiet woods we came to a small pond and on a log sat the tiniest baby beaver.  I’ve seen beavers before, but never one so small.  And just as happened with the fox this morning, Atticus took a seat and watched and I sat back in wonder while the beaver continued to chew and look upon us without a care in the world. 

I thought of yesterday’s beaver while we exchanged non-verbal pleasantries with Mr. Fox this morning and I thought about how fortunate we have been on two straight days to be welcomed to this forest by its residents.  I’m glad that Atticus is the gentle sort who has learned about respecting another creature’s home and that we could sit silently this morning and yet have so much conveyed .

This is not the first fox sighting we’ve had as of late.  Back in Jackson, we had a backyard Christmas tree this year and it gleamed with blue and white LED lights while a smaller varied string of colors wove and twinkled through the branches.  This tree was such a splendid gift to ourselves and was so stunning in its bright simplicity that I couldn’t help but gasp with surprised pleasure each time I encountered it.  It was as if I’d forgotten it was there and fell in love all over again whenever I’d pull into the yard or looked out the window.  One night I saw the neighboring fox who leaves her footprints in the snow for us to find each morning sitting by the tree.  When we went out into the yard she was gone.  The next night, however, when Atticus and I were outside, she appeared through the bracken ringing the yard.  She approached but didn’t get too close.  It was a safe distance for both of us and we looked on each other in the light of that wondrous tree.  After some time, Atticus and I went back into the house and when I looked out the window I saw her close to the tree again. 

On a recent hike up Peaked Mountain we were getting close to the part of the trail where the forest gives way to the ledges and we crossed paths with yet another fox.  It watched us with some interest and once again Atticus looked back at me and waited for me to pick him up and there fox, dog, and man spent a brief visit together.  It wasn’t nearly as long as this morning’s encounter nor the get-together with our backyard fox but it was enough to arouse my sense of wonder.

This morning, all the rain, the falling ice, the wind disappeared in the time of our silent communion.  Eventually I told the fox we had to go and apologized for passing too close on our way out of the woods.  It trotted slowly away and we went back to our car. 

The busy city may await us tonight, but there’s always a string that brings us to what we love the most.  Nature is everywhere, and I wrap myself in her embrace whenever I’m reminded of her beauty.    

The Book Fetish Calls FOLLOWING ATTICUS One of the Best of Reads of 2011

We're starting off 2012 with a great review of Following Atticus.  It appears on The Book Fetish Blog.  In the review Ashley Williams writes the following:

At one point in the book, Tom says, “Magic is where you find it; the only thing that matters is that you take the time to look for it.” When I read that, I had to put aside the book and write down that sentiment in the little notebook I keep with me all the time. I also quoted it as a Facebook status, and judging by the number of likes it received, this is a sentiment that we need to remember more often. I wasn’t expecting to be hit by a statement like that in this book. Anyone who dismisses Following Atticus as a book “just” about a man and a dog would be missing out on extraordinary story about friendship, self discovery, and the importance of living the life you’re meant to lead. Unexpectedly, Following Atticus is one of my favorite reads for 2011.
You can read the entire review by clicking here and going to The Book Fetish blog.

Coast Views Magazine Writes About Following Atticus

San Francisco-based Coast Views Magazine has a write-up this month on Following Atticus.  The piece can be read here in its entirety.  I appreciate that the author, Bob Walch, used the full name of both Maxwell Garrison Gillis and Atticus Maxwell Finch.  Love when the media picks up on it. 

HarperCollins Celebrates White Birch Books Selling More Than a 1,000 Copies of Following Atticus

Karyl, Laura, Barb, and Atticus!

In a radio interview the other day, Laura Lucy, the owner of White Birch Books, was asked if she'd ever sold more than a 1,000 copies of a book before.  She thought for a bit and said, "Maybe the DaVinci Code or Harry Potter...but not since September 20th."

In only ten weeks the good ladies at North Conway's White Birch Books have sold more than 1,000 copies of our book.  This is astounding at a time when small indie bookstores spend much of their time gasping for breath.  The economy is brutal.  Amazon is a beast.  And yet here's little a little indie bookseller in the White Mountains selling so many copies of our book. 

On Friday, HarperCollins celebrated this great feat by sending them a congratulatory cake from the White Mountain Cupcakery. 

White Birch Books remains the only place you can special order a personalized autographed and "pawtographed" copy of our book.  You can get one if we have an appearance somewhere but that won't be happening again until January.  So if you would like to order a book from them give the ladies a call at (603) 356-3200. 

A Secret...

I have a secret for you.  It’s not about the mountains.  It has never been about them.  Then again, you may have already figured that out. 

As soon as we enter the woods and set forth on a trail we leave everything behind.  I mean everything.  There’s Atticus and me and what I wear and what I carry in my pack.  Of course in winter when it’s cold and there are more variables and more dangers to consider I carry far more.  But in comparison to the man who commutes to work in Boston each day, it’s very little.  I noticed that this week while spending a few days down south.  On three occasions I drove along the highways ringing Greater Boston and I saw crazy things on the road.  God, the way people drive – they just don’t care.  They don’t seem to care for others and they don’t seem to care for themselves and the looks on their faces – well, for the most part, it’s sad.  They’re somewhere else.  They are worn down, tired; they are stressed and angry and more often than not headed someplace because they have to be there, not because they want to be there. 

I watched them coming and going and our dear Thoreau was correct: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Atticus and I have it easy compared to those folks.  Our lives are nothing like that, not any more.  Oh, I know I have my own stuff – we all do – but I can’t remember the last time I felt as drawn and spent and empty as many I’d seen on the highways this week. 

The reason we were driving was because we were invited to speak about our story at the wondrous R. J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut.  It’s a beautiful seaside town that’s polished and scrubbed and feels cleaner and more orderly than most places I’ve ever been.  But it’s not so scrubbed or polished, however, that it feels sterile.  It just feels good.  And the bookstore itself is perhaps the most beautiful bookstore I’ve ever been in.  It was enchanting – the kind of place readers would love to get lost in, or those who dream of being a writer go to and walk among the books and say, “Someday….someday I’d like to see my book up on that polished wooden shelf with all the greats, and someday, if I’m fortunate enough, I’d like to come here and sign my books.” 

We were to speak at night but we showed up unannounced, as we like to do, earlier in the day, to take in the surroundings.  We walked for several minutes through the store taking it all in and for a while no one thought anything at all about us.  Then one woman behind the counter saw Atticus sitting in my arms and said, “Oh, have you seen this book we’re selling?  The dog on the cover looks just like him,” as she pointed at Atticus.  She went and got our book and held it up for me to see, “He looks just like him.  How cute!”

That’s when I finally introduced ourselves and our anonymity was gone.  The staff there was just as extraordinary as the store itself was.  Everyone was kind.  The inn they put us up in was romantic and quaint and precious.  And that night when we spoke, there was a good crowd awaiting us and they were fantastic!  They were upbeat, many having read our book and knew of the Little Buddha and they all smiled as we walked to the podium and looked at Atticus in my arm sitting up looking out at them.  And when I spoke, they listened intently.  They nodded, they smiled, they laughed, some wiped a tear here and there.  When we were done we sat and I signed books and used Atti’s paw print stamp to imprint his “pawtograph.”  People bought so many books, several people buying five, six…one woman bought even more.  The store sold so many books they sold out and had to order more. 

It was everything a writer dreams of. 

That night, after the store closed, Atticus and I walked out into the cold night and strolled the streets of Madison.  Christmas decorations adorned the downtown and lights twinkled like little stars and it seemed we had it all to ourselves.  It was not unlike the trails we seek out here in the mountains – the ones where we can mostly be alone.  The air was clean and filled with a sense of satisfaction. 

As I walked I thought of the high mountains of the Presidential Range where the rock reaches above treeline.  I thought of the times we’ve been there, especially in winter.  I thought of the winter when Atticus led me over those high peaks when he was mostly blind and the following winter when he did it again with restored sight.  I thought of the other times we’ve been up there, especially when we had it to ourselves and all we carry is our thoughts, what’s on our bodies, and what’s in my backpack.  And I thought of being there on top of New England to watch the sunrise, as we plan to do one upcoming winter morning. 

It’s funny, when we are away from home I often think of these mountains, but in the mountains I often think of other things, especially when we are climbing them. 

And that gets back to my original point.  It’s not really about the mountains.  It’s never been about them. 

Thinking about these great peaks and the places we’ve been when writing about them and the success we’ve had, I couldn’t help but think of someone who would have enjoyed every bit of our journey had he lived to see it.  Jack Ryan dreamed of climbing all these mountains and he dreamed of being a writer.  In the end what my father had to settle for one of his nine children to do them for him.  I’m hoping it meant something to him, hoping it still does if he’s somewhere looking out over us from wherever he is.

I thought about my father throughout our drive down into Connecticut and while we were there and could just imagine him calling his sister, Marijane, in Arizona and telling her all about it. You see, he would have said little of it to me, and would have exhibited little pride or excitement for me to witness.  For whatever reason he would have kept it hidden.  But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have filled him up and lifted him up.

So on our way home to Jackson, by way of Newburyport (the other home that has helped define me for as Plutarch wrote: “The city makes the man…”), we made a detour to Medway, the little town I grew up in.  There’s not much there these days other than a few strip malls, some overpriced houses, and commuters.  And there’s no reason for Atticus and me to go there other than that’s where my parents are buried. 

My mother was gone far too early for me to remember much of anything about her.  I was only seven when she died Christmas week.  So when I visit the cemetery I do it more for my father.  And there Atticus and I sat halfway between that perfect bookstore in Madison, Connecticut and the mountains we now love and call home.  I read him the prologue to the book.  It was first written as a letter to him, after all.  Then I told him of the wonders of the last few days and this entire journey.  Then we sat some more and I held Atticus on my lap and the same cool earth that now holds my father’s body held me. 

It’s funny what happens when you first take a step onto a trail and head into the woods.  You really do have no idea where it will ultimately take you.  But this much I do know, it’s not about the mountains.  It has never been about them.  It’s always been about where they take you and who they take you to.   

Jack Ryan

A Great Review of Our Audio Book

A long-time book reviewer from Indiana who calls himself DWD has reviewed the Following Atticus audio book and given it five stars (out of five).  He writes:

"Tom Ryan narrated the book and I am glad that he choose to read it himself rather than hiring a professional reader. Usually, the author-as-narrator is, at best, a mixed bag. In this case, Ryan's New England accent made the story work all the better (I love regional accents!) and he is quite adept at portraying the emotions of the moment in his voice. I cannot imagine how it could have been performed any better by a professional and I recommend the audiobook version over the printed version because of his performance and what it adds."

His entire review can be found here.  Please feel free to leave comments on his blog post if you enjoy reading it.  (We bloggers love comments!)

Following Atticus Interview

Today, I had to answer questions via email for a journalist. I know not all of my answers will make it into the article being written so I'm printing the entire thing here.  I hope you enjoy it.  As for the publication, I won't mention its name as I'm sure a much briefer version will appear in its pages before too long.

Here you go...

How did Atticus come into your life?

I had rescued an elderly miniature schnauzer, Maxwell Garrison Gillis.  He was only with me for a year and a half before he died.  Soon after I attempted to rescue any other miniature schnauzer that might be in need but I didn’t have any luck.  So my friends, who knew I was grieving, gave me a thousand dollars and told me to go out and find a puppy.  Once my on-line search started a confluence of fateful emails with a breeder from down south brought Atticus into my life. 

As you’ll see when you read the book, this interaction with the breeder at the beginning and throughout the story is a main theme in our book.

What is it about Atticus that made you want to simplify your life?

It was Maxwell Garrison Gillis, not Atticus that made me aware I needed to simplify things.  When I rescued him I was leading a complicated, controversial, and exciting life running a one-person newspaper in a seething political town.  I was always “on.”  But when Max came into my life I was forced to pay attention to someone else’s needs.  I had always been on the move and he gave me a reason to stay home more often.  He gave me someone to look after.  He gave me a home.  Seeing him curl up in a small ball on my bed while I was on the phone talking about the latest lies of some small town politician made me realize I wanted to find that same kind of innocence he exhibited on a daily basis. 

How did Atticus help put small-town politics into perspective?

After Max passed on I had the responsibility of raising Atticus. His breeder, Paige Foster, had entrusted a very special puppy to me (I wouldn’t know for years just how special she thought he was) and I took my responsibility seriously.  When you raise a puppy, there is so much you have to take into account.  I was given charge of a new life and I wanted to make sure that he had the kind of life the once-neglected Max had been denied for the first decade of his life. 

When you love someone, everything else falls away.  When you care for someone - that becomes the priority.  Putting Max, and then Atticus first, humbled me and put things into perspective for me.

What makes Atticus happy?

Not long ago someone asked me if Atticus has a voice in the book.  He doesn’t.  It would be presumptuous and disingenuous of me to pretend I know what he’s thinking or what he would say if he could speak.  I won’t pretend to know everything that makes him happy.  But from what I see being free is the main thing.  He gets to be with me, which is a job he takes extremely seriously as he acts as though I’m his responsibility.  By being with me he gets treated as an equal.  I like to think that makes him happy. 

Being in nature also does it.  This I can clearly see.  If we are on a beach or in the woods there’s more of a spring to his step.  And being on a mountaintop…well, something comes over him.  The best I can describe it is that he seems to find his bliss and his center on top of a peak.  He sits and sits and sits moving nothing but his head and eyes taking in the view.  And when we first get to a mountaintop he wants me to pick him up so we can share the view together.  In my arms, with both our eyes cast out towards the horizon, I feel his body relax, I hear him sigh, and I see that this is a place he was meant to be.

Why 48 peaks, twice each, in the winter?

The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) created the 4,000-Footer Club more than fifty years ago.  Its purpose was to get people to explore the four corners of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and not just hang out on the most popular peaks.  There are 48 of them.  Finish them and you get a patch and a scroll signifying the accomplishment.  More than 8,000 people and 100 dogs have completed that ‘List’ through the years. 

Then there’s the ‘Winter List.’ It’s much difficult club to become a member of and far fewer people have accomplished this.  It’s even rarer, as you might imagine, to do all the peaks in one winter. 

At the time I was looking for a way to pay tribute to a friend who had died of cancer.  Just before her cancer was detected she’d done a three-day, sixty mile cancer walk and told me it was tough and something she’d never dreamed of doing, but it was also rewarding.  So setting out to do something just as tough and rare and rewarding was the impetus for attempting to hike 96 peaks in 90 days to raise money for the fight against cancer for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and then later for Angell Animal Medical Center.

What was the highlight of your trek?

There’s no one highlight.  For the rest of my life moments of our journeys in the mountains, especially in winter, will flash in my mind. It happens on a daily basis to me.  I suppose what mattered most was that throughout it all, we grew even closer than imaginable.  Not only did we have an already incredibly intimate bond shared by man and dog, but we also shared a bond between hiking partners.  There’s a rare intimacy that’s shared between two fellow adventurers that the rest of the world can never know.  People can think they know about it but until you experience it it’s something that cannot be translated for others.

In three winters Atticus and I climbed 188 winter peaks.  In that time we shared numerous adventures and lived a life most others only can dream of.  The friendship that existed before then and grew because of those mountains – that was the highlight.

Did you and/or Atticus ever want to give up?

Again, I cannot and will not speak for him.  I can say is that Atticus always had a say in every hike.  If he didn’t want to go, we didn’t go.  If we got so far into the hike and he wanted to turn back we did.  He didn’t do either of these very often, but he did it enough to know he could always have a say.

As for me, there were many times I wanted to give up.  Winter in the White Mountains can be exhilarating and beautiful.  But it can also be daunting, dangerous, and about the loneliest place in the world.  On days when the sun is bright and the skies bright blue, the snow is brilliant white and my heart soars.  But when it’s gray and misty and there are no views and the wind howls like a banshee, well, I shiver and I shudder and I question myself. 

And of course it’s incredibly difficult to get out of bed when you are aching from a twenty mile hike and you have to get up and do another hike again, especially when the temperature is below zero and everyone you know is home safe and sound.

What is different about your life with Atticus in it?

That’s what our book is about.  Read it and you’ll find the answer. 

If I had to sum it up though, I’d say that throughout all of our lives we all lose things along the way.  When we are young and innocent we dream of how special the world will be and how wonderful we can be when we grow up.  And yet along the way year by year that gets chipped away.  We get to be middle-aged and often all we can think of us is just getting by.  We forget the magic.  We forget how much of a gift life is. 

If we are lucky, fate knocks on our door and says “Wake up! I’ve got an adventure for you to go on.”  Joseph Campbell, the mythologist, refers to this as the ‘hero’s journey’.  It’s that moment we step away from the usual and enter a different realm that at first seems uncomfortable, maybe even impossible, and then yields to a more rewarding existence.  Soon you’re on your way back to everything you ever dreamed of being. . . . That is, if you have the courage of your convictions and the willingness to leave the old and the safe behind for this new life – the life you were always meant to lead.

First Maxwell Garrison Gillis and then Atticus Maxwell Finch became avatars, guides, if you will, to bring me on this journey back to myself.  As I’ve said many times over, I owe much to one dog who died and another who lived.  I owe them my eternal gratitude for giving me back my life.

What is different about Atticus’ life with you in it?

Really? 

Sorry, but I won’t even pretend to know the answer to this one.  He was eight weeks old when we joined forces.

If I was to leap for an answer the only thing I’d say is that I’m proud of something Paige Foster said, “Thank you for not training the Atticus out of Atticus.”  In short, I set up guidelines so that he could be safe but the rest was up to him. I allowed him to be whatever he wanted to be.  I simply got out of his way and let him be.

If he didn’t like mountains, we never would have returned for a second hike.  But he did and that was the path we took.

All I can say to this is that raising a puppy and living with the dog as he ages is the same as loving someone: you do your best to protect them, but you let them live and grow and be themselves.  In return you receive so many gifts, especially the knowledge that you helped someone on their own personal journey.

If we weren’t together, well, I have no idea what his life would have been like.  Paige always thought he was extraordinary, so perhaps he would have been extraordinary in some other way.  Thankfully for me, it’s an answer I don’t need to have.

What’s next for you and Atticus?

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie “Hook” (it’s a modern day look at Peter Pan) or not but there’s a great last couple of lines.  Granny Wendy says, “So…your adventures are over.  And Peter Banning says, “Oh no.  To live…to live would be an awfully big adventure.”

We’ll always have our mountains but our greatest adventure continues to be sharing this life together.  I take heart in knowing there are many more adventures to come.  In the last chapter of Following Atticus you will see we set sail on a new one and that is a story unto itself.

Appalachia & Beyond Reviews Following Atticus

How sweet is this photo?

I consider it an honor when those I respect the most 'get' our story and enjoy it.  It means something more to me because they understand our love of nature and mountains and the bond between man and dog. 

In their review it says: "But let me warn you, this is not just a book about a dog. It's not just a book about adventure. The mystery is never rectified. But you will be left with a heart-warming sensation - a newly acquired approach to the way you view life - and probably even the lives of the pets you love."

The entire Appalachia & Beyond review can be read here.  It also has a link to our fabulous book trailer created by Joe Carter.

(Oh, and by the way, don't you just love the accompanying photo?)