Cherished (23 page)

M
ELISSA
C
ISTARO'S
personal essays have been published in the
New Ohio Review
and online at
Anderbo.com
She lives in Northern California with her husband and three children and has recently completed her first novel.

M
ARK
D
OTY
has published eight volumes of poetry, and won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008 for
Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems
. He's the author of four volumes of nonfiction, including
Dog Years
, which was a
New York Times
bestseller in 2007. He teaches at Rutgers University.

S
AMANTHA
D
UNN
is the author of the novel
Failing Paris
and the memoirs
Not By Accident
and
Faith in Carlos Gomez
. She is also coeditor of the short-story anthology
Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles
. A contributing editor at the
Los Angeles Times Magazine
, she has had her work featured in
O the Oprah Magazine, Ms.
,
Redbook
, and many other na
tional magazines. She is married and has a son.

L
INZI
G
LASS'S
first novel,
The Year the Gypsies Came
, was published in six languages and voted one of the best books
for young adults by the American Library Association. Her third book, and latest novel,
Finding Danny
, combines her two passions, writing and animal rescue. She teaches writing through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and is the executive director and cofounder of the Forgotten Dog Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing dogs in need.

R
OBERT
G
OLDMAN
practices veterinary medicine in Mar Vista, California. He is past president of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association, and is the former chief of staff of the Los Angeles Spaymobile.

M
ONICA
H
OLLOWAY
is the author of two memoirs,
Driving With Dead People
(a
Newsweek
Best Book pick), and the bestselling story of her son, Wills, and his beloved dog,
Cowboy & Wills
. Her essay “Red Boots and Cole Haans” appeared in the anthology
Mommy Wars
, and her articles have been published in national magazines. Monica lives in Los Angeles with her family and thirteen animals, eight of which are hermit crabs.

T
ED
K
OOSER
served two terms as U.S. Poet Laureate and, during his first term, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He says it's all downhill from there.

A
NNE
L
AMOTT
is the author of six novels as well as four best-selling books of nonfiction, including
Operating Instructions
and
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
. She has won a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her biweekly
Salon
magazine “online diary,”
Word by Word
, was voted the Best of the Web by
Time
magazine. Her latest novel,
Imperfect Birds
, was published in 2010.

S
ONIA
L
EVITIN
has written over forty books in various genres, both for children and adults. Her most recent project is a stage musical,
Return
, based on her award-winning novel
The Return
. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Lloyd, a professor at the University of Southern California, and two rescue dogs, Buddy, a Lab mix, and Shadow, a chow chow mix. Sonia has taught the craft of writing at UCLA Extension for many years. Her website is
SoniaLevitin.com.

T
HOMAS
M
C
G
UANE
is the author of ten novels, three works of nonfiction, and two collections of stories, including
Driving on the Rim
. He lives on a ranch in McLeod, Montana.

B
ILLY
M
ERNIT,
author of
Imagine Me and You: A Novel
(Random House/Shaye Areheart), began his writing career as a composer-lyricist; his songs have been recorded by Carly Simon and Judy Collins. He's since written for television (NBC's
Santa Barbara
), and while working as both screenwriter and script consultant, he has become known as “the guru of rom-com” for his bestselling screenwriting textbook,
Writing the Romantic Comedy
(HarperCollins).

J
UDITH
L
EWIS
M
ERNIT
spent sixteen years at the
LA Weekly
, where she wrote about the arts, technology, and the environment. Her work has appeared in
Mother Jones
,
Wired
,
Sierra
, and
High Country News
, where she is currently a contributing
editor. She has won awards from the Los Angeles Press Club, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, and the Dog Writers Association of America. She lives in Venice, California, with her husband, two dogs, and two cats.

J
OE
M
ORGENSTERN
is the film critic of the
Wall Street Journal
and won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. He was a foreign correspondent for the
New York Times
, theater and movie critic for the
New York Herald Tribune
, movie critic for
Newsweek
, and a columnist for the
Los Angeles Herald Examiner
. His magazine journalism includes articles for the
New Yorker
, the
New York Times Magazine
,
Playboy
, and the
Columbia Journalism Review
. He has written television scripts, including
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
and several episodes of
Law & Order
.

R
OBIN
R
OMM
is the author of a collection of stories,
The Mother Garden
, which was a finalist for a PEN USA award, and a memoir,
The Mercy Papers
, which was a
New York Times
Notable Book of the Year, an
Entertainment Weekly
Top Five Nonfiction Book of the Year, and a
San Francisco Chronicle
Best Book of the Year. Her writing has appeared in many publications, such as the
New York Times
, the
U.K. Observer
, the
San Francisco Chronicle
,
Tin House
, and the
Threepenny Review
.

J
ENNY
R
OUGH
has written essays and articles for the
Washington Post
,
Los Angeles Times
,
Yoga Journal, More
,
USA Weekend
, and
Writer's Digest
, among other publications. With roots in both coasts, she's a regular contributor to
Whole Life Times
and is the Green Scene columnist for the
Washington Examiner
in D.C. Her essays have also appeared as commentaries on public radio. Her website is Jenny
Rough.com.

C
AROLYN
S
EE
is the author of five novels, including
The Handyman
and
Golden Days
. She is also the author of
Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America
. She is a book reviewer for the
Washington Post
and is on the board of PEN Center USA West. She has a PhD in American literature from UCLA, where she is an adjunct professor of English. Her awards include the Robert Kirsch Body of Work Award (1993) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction. She lives in California.

J
ANE
S
MILEY
is the author of many books and essays and won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel
A Thousand Acres
. Her latest projects are a novel for adults,
Private Life
, and a series of horse books for young readers. The first of these,
The Georges and the Jewels
, was published in fall 2009; the second,
A Good Horse
, in fall 2010; and the third,
True Blue
, is due out in fall 2011. Jane Smiley has six horses and three dogs and lives in California.

J
ACQUELINE
W
INSPEAR,
originally from the United Kingdom, has lived in California since 1990. She has written articles and essays for a range of magazines and for radio, and is also the author of the award-winning and
New York Times
– bestselling series featuring psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs. When not writing, Jackie spends as much time as she can with her two beloved horses, Sara, a Dutch Warmblood, and Oliver, a Friesian; or hiking with her rescued black Lab, Maya (aka Mayakin, Mayabelle, Mayaboo, Boo…).

V
ICTORIA
Z
ACKHEIM
is the author of the novel
The Bone Weaver
and creator, contributing author, and/or editor of four anthologies:
The Face in the Mirror
;
For Keeps
;
The Other Woman
; and
He Said What?
(Seal/Perseus, 2011). She writes for On the Road Productions, teaches personal essay writing in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, and writes and records commentaries and book reviews for the talk radio program
The Mimi Geerges Show
. She lives in San Francisco. Her website is
VictoriaZackheim.com.

T
here would be no book without the contributors, and I'm so deeply grateful for all their essays. Thank you,
Cherished
writers (and you
are
cherished): Cecilia Brainard, May-lee Chai, Michael Chitwood, Melissa Cistaro, Mark Doty, Samantha Dunn, Linzi Glass, Monica Holloway, Anne Lamott, Sonia Levitin, Thomas McGuane, Billy Mernit, Judith Lewis Mernit, Joe Morgenstern, Robin Romm, Jenny Rough, Carolyn See, Jane Smiley, Jacqueline Winspear, and Victoria Zackheim (who also introduced me to the world of editing anthologies). And thank you, Ted Kooser, for the perfect poem for this anthology.

Nor would there be a book without Dr. Robert Goldman — friend, student, and veterinarian to my animals — who gave me the idea for this anthology. Thank you, dear friend, for not only the idea but also for the loving care of Stuart and Charlotte.

Once again and always, thanks to my agent, Lisa Erbach Vance, for her amazing energy, loyalty, smarts, and priceless advice.

And to Sally Court for always knowing what's needed and what is not.

Thanks to my stepdaughter, Leslie Adams; Gene Collins; and my Montana girlfriends, for teaching me what I know about riding horses.

And cheers to Rob Daly, who solves all my Mac problems.

A profound thank you to my editor, Jason Gardner, and the whole gang at New World Library, especially copyeditor Bonnie Hurd, Kristen Cashman, Tona Pearce Myers, Tracy Cunningham, Munro Magruder, Monique Muhlenkamp, and Kim Corbin. You all are a joy to work with.

And to my daughters, who are part of the stories, especially Gillan, who turns her love of animals into action; to my husband, who is allergic to cats but lived in the same house with Stuart and Charlotte for thirteen years; and to all my grandchildren — Emma, Axel, Grace, Cara, William, Vincent, and Josiah — who carry on the love of animals.

T
he editor and publisher wish to thank the following publishers, authors, and publications:

Carnegie Mellon University Press for permission to reprint “January 19” by Ted Kooser from
Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison
. Copyright 2000 by Ted Kooser.

Michael Chitwood for “The General,” originally published in
The Sun
magazine, June 2004. Reprinted with permission from the author.

Jane Smiley for “Mr. T.'s Heart,” originally published in
Practical Horseman
. Copyright 1999 by Jane Smiley/Horse Heaven. Reprinted with permission from the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency and The Friedrich Agency.

Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), for permission to reprint “This Dog's Life” from
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott. Copyright 2005 by Anne Lamott.