Remembering Thurber, Vesta, and the Story Behind the Story

Redux is an online literary journal devoted to given second life to stories that have been previously published in print journals. When I was asked late last year to submit, the first story that came to mind was “Out for a Walk.”

I was not a dog-owner when I wrote “Out for a Walk” ten years ago, and hadn’t been for nearly ten years, although I’d grown up with family dogs throughout my childhood and knew what it felt like to lose a dog. A friend of mine had recently told me about her difficult experience: her dog had bitten someone and she had to have the dog euthanized. Her experience inspired me to write this story, because it was an interesting situation, and it conjured up that sense of loss—a reminder of how strong the bond between a person and a pet can be.

“Out for a Walk” was one of those rare experiences for me in which the first draft felt good enough to submit—and was accepted by The Baltimore Review when they were still a print journal. In fact, it was my first short story published in a non-academic print journal. The raw emotion I felt while writing the story may be why it was so well received, and so quickly accepted.

It’s mere coincidence (with perhaps a bit of the subconscious mind at work) that when my wife, two children, and I went to the SPCA rescue shelter to adopt a dog, we were immediately drawn to Vesta, a black lab-vizsla mix, much like Thurber, the dog in my story with a “brown-black coat” and “chocolate eyes.” It wasn’t until my recent reading of “Out for a Walk” that I realized this connection.

When I pondered which previously published story I should submit to Redux, “Out for a Walk” immediately came to mind.

Then, another coincidence came this week when, for medical reasons, we had to make the difficult choice to put Vesta to sleep.

Life and death both imitate art.

This Memorial Day, I’d like to share “Out for a Walk” and the story behind the story, as published earlier this year in Redux.

www.reduxlitjournal.com/2017/04/227-out-for-walk-by-eric-d-goodman.html

Three Acts of Wayne Countryman

Davida G. Breier, William Patrick Tandy, and Tony Hayes, have published a zine to honor writer, photographer, and friend Wayne C. Countryman.

The result: a 68-page chapbook: Three Acts of Wayne Countryman. 

Featuring seven of Wayne’s previously published stories, a collection of his photography, and tributes from those who knew and admired him, the book is free for anyone who would like a copy. Donations to help offset the cost of printing and postage is welcome, too.

I’m gratified that I was able to contribute to the tribute, along with Nancy O. Greene, Bruce Goldfarb, Fitz Fitzgerald, Jan Buckner, and Rafael Alvarez.

To request your free copy, contact Davida at Facebook. www.facebook.com/davidagypsybreier?pnref=story.

2016: A Not-So-Death-Defying Year

I'd like to announce that, at long last, the year 2016 is dead.

As others have said in recent weeks, there aren’t very many people who are praising 2016 as a great year. For many of us, it’s been a bit of a bummer.

Every year has it’s “in memory” end-of-year tributes. And there are always a number of famous people who exit the world stage who I regret seeing pictured to sad music. But in 2016, it became more personal. It seemed like a younger bunch, the heroes of my generation.

So many musicians I loved and admired. There was Prince, quite unexpectedly. Then David Bowie. Leon Russel. George Michael. And Leonard Cohen.

And the entertainers: Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman, Gary Shandling, Patty Duke, Kenny Baker. 

And in sports, Muhummad Ali and Arnold Palmer. Politically speaking, Justice Scalia, Janet Reno, Fidel Castro.

Writers Elie Wiesel and Pat Conroy, Richard Adams, and Harper Lee. Reporter Morley Safer. 

The person I shared an office with when I lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio: senator and astronaut John Glenn.

Just when it looked as though 2016 was finished with deaths, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and her mother Debbie Reynolds died one day after the other.

Then, there were the personal passings. Our family dog of eight years, Vesta. My friend and a friend to many on the literary scene, Wayne Countryman. My colleague of 16 years, friend, and former publisher Javier Bustamante. And Thom Steinbeck, the author and son of John Steinbeck, someone I'd grown to know as a friend over our years of correspondence.

Good things happened in 2016, and one has only to look at Facebook and Twitter to see that many people focus on those positive things. But with these heavy happenings, 2016 turned out to be a not-so-death-defying year.

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Here’s to 2017 being a year of rebirth, instead of another troubling year of loss.