The True Tails of Baker And Taylor

The True Tails of Baker And Taylor

Adult nonfiction
"He sounded like a good fit. Since we first made our decision,
Yvonne and I had drawn up a list of characteristics for our ideal
library cat: in adition to having a superb talent at mousing, he had
to be mellow in the face of squealing, sticky-fingered toddlers at
story time, and gregarious enough to deal with teenagers and adults
who loved cats so much they might pursue him around the library to get
in a few pats and ear scratches."
If you love libraries and you love cats and you feel that the
combination of the two is a bit of Heaven on Earth, you'll love Jan
Louch's The True Tails of Baker And Taylor. It's the story of how two
adorable Scottish fold cats not only transformed a small library, but
won the love of people around the world.
In 1982 Louch was the assistant librarian of a county library in
Nevada. It had been open a few weeks when, on a break, she headed to
the reading room and looked out the window to the patio. She saw
mice. Mice love the taste of the glue with which library books are
bound. In other words, rodents can wreak havoc.
Louch and her boss decided that two cats (to keep each other
company when the library was closed) would be a good investment. But
they didn't want to divert money from the library's tight and
politically precarious funds. So they began to save their pennies.
They had their hearts set on Scottish fold cats, a breed known for
their distinctive ears. Pedigreed cats don't come cheap.
A fortuitous name choice speeded up the acquisition process.
There were already cats named Dewey and Decimal. Page and Turner or
Cover didn't seem right. Nothing clicked until Louch was unpacking
new books shipped by Baker & Taylor, a library wholesaler. After
Baker arrived she decided to let the company know about their furry
namesake. That was a very smart move. The company offered to pay for
the second cat if they could take pictures of the duo to create
posters to make their corporate image a little less stodgy. No one
had a clue how popular the felines would become...
...and you're going to have to read the book to find out.
Quite fittingly, my good buddy Joey cat was all cuddled up with
me while I read the book. A lot of the time he was curled up on my
lap sleeping soundly. Sometimes he'd wake up, stretch, yawn, and
climb up behind me to circle my neck like a furry scarf and purr
loudly in my ear.
Often when I look at Joey I remember Kaspar, a very special book
store cat. For years Kaspar ruled Lippincotts. He was a handsome
tuxedo cat with a white half mustache. He had very decided opinions
concerning regulars. He would glimpse some folks and take off for a
safe spot as fast as his paws would carry him. He always greeted me
with his most cordial rubbing, head butting, and kitty kisses, all
accompanied by a throaty purr. He was my little furry confidante. No
matter what happened I could tell him as I patted him and scratched
behind the ears.
In January 2003 Sapphire, my little Siamese, died unexpectedly.
I was heartbroken. Kaspar was very talented about comforting me. I
began to pray for a cat who would be a lot like my faithful feline
friend.
September 3, 2003 was the first day of school for my kids who
then ranged from first to eighth grade. After school my kids and
their friends gathered in the living room. My sister-in-law was
bringing me am early birthday gift--one of her cat Cindy's kittens
born June 8...
...a kitten who was the spitting image of Kaspar down to the
white half mustache. The only noticable difference was Joey's stub
tail. And he has Kaspar's sweet disposition.
One of Joey's favorite cat toys is a multicolored ball that
Kaspar, in his time on Earth, loved chasing around Lippincotts.
On a purrrrsonal note, after another whole day cleaning I hadn't found
my purse. Eugene got home late. It was all I could do to give him
time to eat supper before I asked him if he'd seen it. He found it in
ten seconds. I kid you not. Since it was found I consider myself
lucky. I got a huge chunk of the house reorganizing done. It usually
brings out the little procrastinator in me. But now I am going to
focus on it until it's done. Especially if I'm disciplined about
putting my pocketbook away every time I come in and putting the
laundry up instead of letting it pile up, each bit of progress I make
will save me so much time in the future...time for reading and
homework. Also I found the 3 cat shirts I misplaced recently, my 2
favorite leggings I hadn't seen in months, and my black sequinned high
tops that got buried years ago that will really bedazzle my friends
this fall semester. All's well that ends well.
A great big shout out goes to Jennifer Iwerks. A lot of people at
UMaine will really miss her, especially those of us in the LGBTQ
crowd. She was a very important presence for us and did a great job
with events like the drag show. I know she'll do an awesome job in
her next school and community. But I wish her the best of luck.
jules hathaway



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