Following Atticus - Review

Following Atticus  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

by Tom Ryan

Published September 20 2011 by William Morrow

Finished 2.6.2017

How can one help but love this 20 pound fur baby?  This powerhouse  known as Atticus M. Finch (love that), Little Buddha, or Little Giant in and around his home town of Newburyport, MA, led his best friend Tom Ryan hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire, making history one winter summiting over 48 peaks in honor of a friend who had died of cancer.  As  Atticus  and Tom reached each peak, they would pause at the summit and bond while gazing out at the beauty of the landscape.  They grew famous and beloved through news of their treks, by the amazement at a small dog's ability to accomplish such feats and overcome adversities.  Through the power of their friendship, light prevailed over darkness when tragedy struck.  

I first learned of this dynamic duo watching an Animal Planet special several years back.  Then I read a heartbreaking  review of the book  following Atticus' passing last year. The audio book is narrated by Tom Ryan--New England accent and all.   (Who knew that Newburyport was pronounced New Breport?)  Atticus M. Finch changed Tom Ryan's life and that of all who knew him and who continue to learn of him.   I loved how Tom trained him from a pup not with punishments or rewards, but with the respect deserving a Please and Thank you for each favor granted.  Atticus taught Tom how to love and how to live, about kindness, and how to dream.  Tom gave Atti selfless adoration and a good life mingled with nature.

I checked out Tom's blog and learned that he is still writing (great news!) and has a new companion, Samwise, with whom he already hikes as he did with Atticus.  Last month atop a summit they watched Mars, the moon, and Venus align and Tom wrote:

"As Emerson would say in his Transcendental way..., Samwise and I were with our peers out in that snowy field, with stars so brilliant, so bewildering, and  humbling, I couldn't help but feel I was part of all we saw.  And that little line that divides man and beast vanished and what we shared was the sacrament of communion.

Nature has a way of bringing us home..."

Two more books are forthcoming!