- Excerpt
CAT BOOK
by Emily Eve Weinstein
published by Beau Soleil Publishing
reprinted here with permission.
INTRODUCTION
We are pleased to feature three portraits from CAT BOOK,
an exquisite collection of paintings and stories by artist Emily Eve
Weinstein.
First up is Scarlett, the famous New York firefighting cat who
gained national attention rescuing five kittens from a burning building.
Next is Lucy, a unique cat (her eyes are different colors) who
lives in a unique household. Finally, meet Maximum Paws, a husky
calico with too many toes!
You'll find a biography of artist and animal lover Emily Eve Weinstein
right behind the kitties, along with more information about her lovely CAT
BOOK. Enjoy!
Scarlett
by Emily Eve Weinstein
An alleged crack house in an abandoned garage is up in flames. Possibly
arson, probably a careless crackhead with a light. These details are
moot points; what matters to the stray cat that lives there is getting
her five kittens out alive. She makes five trips, each time returning
to a structure that is further engulfed by flames and smoke. Every hair
singed off her body, ears radically burned, eyes melting shut, she will
not stop until she has rescued all five.
Firefighter David Giannelli finds the unconscious cat lying near her
kittens. He carefully gathers the feline family and goes directly to
North Shore Animal League. Word goes around the world about this heroic
cat. The masses pray for her, send cards with best wishes, and 7,000
offers to adopt her pour in. After a month, the white kitten succumbs
to smoke inhalation. After three months, Scarlett is healed enough to
go to a new home. Out of thousands of potential adoptees, Karen Wellen
is selected -- herself the survivor of a terrible accident. Two pairs
of kittens go to the homes of two other finalists.
Five years later, and I am visiting with the famous cat in her Brooklyn
home. Scarlett is now a solid 16 pounds, with a full, shiny calico coat.
The deep scars on her legs and feet, near hairless face, oddly upturned
eyes, and nubbed ears bear witness to her ordeal. She needs no bribing
to pose for me; she enjoys being around people. Scarlett is a symbol
of loyalty, heroism, and the best stuff life is made of.
Lucy
Feral cat activist Julie Smith
tells me of Debbie Meyer, a newspaper columnist who writes informative
articles on animals.
We finally meet
at her serene home on a pond. Three friendly horses approach me and walk
right by to Debbie with the hay. In the barn, tabby Violet peers down.
Orange tabby Dante inspects my car. Dogs Zelda and Buzz are leaping up
in their pen to be noticed. Betsy, the adopted potbelly pig, is not in
view. Inside this airy house a one-eyed black & white cat, Schroedinger,
greets us, and three-legged black cat Ella scoots by. The youngest cat,
Steward, bounds up the stairs.
At animal
shelters I have seen people surrender animals to face uncertain futures
because they are moving, the animal
sheds, or it doesn't match
the new couch; the list of heartless reasons goes on. At Debbie and Eric's
exquisite new home, the philosophy is the opposite. "You can't replace
a life, but you can a couch." Actually, Buzz destroyed their couch --
twice!
Debbie has written on homeopathy
for animals, feral cat colonies, good horse care, and a woman that
tamed a cat by
reading to her nightly from
the Bible. An irate reader writes to accuse her of "just" caring about
animals. As it turns out, Debbie chairs a mentoring program for youths,
works full-time at Duke University on one of the world's most important
scientific weeklies, and facilitates a column at the Chapel Hill newspaper
called "My View." Would the complainer take in blind amputee cats or
care enough about people to help them be heard?
The
Queen Mother, cat Lucy, with one blue eye, the other yellow, nearing
20 years, looks out over the pond. Ella shakes
her head to the right
for Debbie to scratch under her chin. With her right leg missing, she
can't reach that spot. "Part of the attraction of getting involved with
animals is that they easily make us feel like heroes. I do something
as simple as loan a trap. A cat gets caught and spayed, and many lives
don't suffer in vain." Nobody is suffering at this location.
Maximum Paws and Zip
McIntyre's
Fine Books at Fearrington Village has two felines in residence. The
staff feels the literary cats are
most suitable to grace the pages
of a book on cats. B&W Zip grooms her hulking son as if he were a tiny
kitten. They sleep curled up in each others arms. Maximum Paws is polydactyl,
with two extra fingers on each paw. Bookseller Martha preferred naming
him Thumbs Hemingway after the multi-toed cats living on the Hemingway
complex. I follow the cat trying to figure out the best angle to capture
his broad feet.
He leads me into an office, enjoys being petted, and then is on the
move again. Up the stairs he sits still at last. Having given himself
a partial bath, he leaps back downstairs, and I follow, into the children's
section and then on to travel. Some paper crumples at the cash register,
cueing him to run in that direction. Someone opens the front door, and
so back up the stairs we go. Three hours of following Maximum around,
and I finally have something resembling him.
Maximum and mom Zip have their jobs at the bookstore. They help with
the gift wrapping by playing with the ribbon. Maximum helps Peter check
in books, particularly the paperwork. Zip keeps Robert company when he
is at the computer. She also warms the laps of men with facial hair,
as she is partial to them. Maximum protects his toys from imaginary thieves
with a growl, but is most affable during book readings where he works
hard to steal the show.
Copyright ©2002 by Emily Eve Weinstein.
All Rights Reserved. Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this
file, as long as the contents have not been altered and this copyright
notice is intact. Thank you.
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