The American symbolist painter Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) spent part of his childhood in Cuba. After a while his parents thought the climate too hot for his health, and he was sent back to the care of his grandparents in New York. As he writes in his memoir The Digressions of V. , he left one particular friend behind him: ...I began to look sallow, and was packed off North. But I left one broken heart behind me, that of poor Cottorita, my parrot. She had been given me very young, and loved as only a parrot or dog can love. I have always been sorry that I did not take the dear thing with me, for she went about for three days after my departure, calling, " Nino Elijio! Nino Elijio! " and then flew away and was never seen again. When I went to the Spanish school she would station herself at the house-door and wait patiently until I came back, and then, climbing up, never quitted my shoulder. When I remember that a parrot can live a hundred years, there is no reason why she ...
Dewitt Miller (American, 1857-1911) was wholly a man of letters. An educator, speaker, and minister, he is perhaps best known as a book collector . Like many (most?) of us book enthusiasts, he had a soft spot for cats. Here's what his friend Leon Vincent recalls: Other animals besides those of the human race were the objects of Miller's benevolence. He delighted in parrots, squirrels, cats, and dogs, and had a profound respect for a horse. I well remember his satisfaction when the high-bred Angora cat that dwelt at the Glen jumped on his knee for the first time of its own accord; he had not looked for so great an honor. His face beamed as he stroked the little creature's head with his ample hand. They made a comical pair of comrades, Miller being so very large and the cat so exceedingly small. Two or three of his cat-friends always received at Christmas time postal money-orders (made out in the name of their respective masters), to the end that they might p...
detail from a photo in the museum collection Did you already hear about the new dachshund museum in Germany? (Probably from the Smithsonian article ?) The Smithsonian does not provide a link to the website, but that's why you have me: Dachshund Museum . I've sent you to the English version of the site, but it hasn't been completely translated. FYI.
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