When it comes to authors who possess both a particular expertise in, as well as a distinct love for, chronicling the lives of specific non-human animals, I can think of few – if indeed any – better than Grant Hayter-Menzies. While he is best known for his biographies of extraordinary women, his biographies of such noteworthy beings as Woo and Rags stand in a group by themselves in the level of research, authorial skill, and genuine feeling for their respective subjects that can be found in them. Now, to these extraordinary books, a new one from the pen of Mr. Hayter-Menzies has just been added from Heritage House Publishing: Muggins; The Life and Afterlife of a Canadian Canine War Hero.
Famous during his short early twentieth-century lifetime for the remarkable work he did in raising the modern equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars for such worthy causes as the Canadian Red Cross, the Blue Cross, food for poor children, aid to prisoners of war, and assistance to the victims of the Jewish pogroms to mention only a few, Muggins quickly became beloved by both citizens and soldiers alike during the the period of World War One as he padded the streets of not only Victoria, British Columbia with his little collection boxes, but far and wide as well.
As the U.S. – Canadian border is now slowly beginning to re-open, I expect a copy of Muggins will be making a journey to my desk very soon, and when it does it shall be warmly welcomed and promptly taken up for reading indeed.
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