Superheroes are all the rage today. Now I’m not saying Alta Grace Rainbolt was a superhero, but she did have something in common with Batman and Superman. She had an alter ego.
My Mom, Alta Grace Rainbolt, came from pioneer stock. She was a fourth generation Texan. Despite her pedigree, she lived a happily urban life in San Antonio attending church and prayer meetings wearing coiffed hair and designer dresses, but on the weekends, she transformed in Ranch Woman.
Alta with her quarter horse, Sam.
Mom loved all animals. Well, most animals. As kids, Art, Margaret and I brought home dogs, lizards, frogs, parakeets, owls and eventually cats, cows and horses…BUT NO SNAKES.
Snakes, Why’d it Have to be Snakes
Once someone brought a large rescued grass snake to us in a paper bag to release outside of town. The harmless three-foot managed to punch a hole in his prison and make his escape. He curled up in the corner of the porch next to the front door waiting for a quiet moment so he could discretely slither away. Mom picked up the empty paper bag and asked, “Where did the snake go?” I pointed at her feet. “Behind you,” I told her. She turned white and nearly passed out. Mom was scared to death of snakes.
Mom struts her stuff at the Green Door fashion show.
Not Southfork, Green Acres
In the mid-1960s, Dad bought a ranch southeast of our home in San Antonio. Now when most people think of a Texas ranches, think of Southfork, but if you really want an accurate television reference, it would be more like the 1960s sitcom Green Acres. No corral, no house, no fence, no running water and worst of all, no bathroom…not even an outhouse.
Dad played the Eddie Albert character, a successful business executive who buys property in the middle of nowhere. In the show Eva Gabor played Mom’s part. The beautiful sophisticated coiffed wife who loved the city (or in Mom’s case, she loved her church, St. Luke’s.) Unlike Eva Gabor’s character, Mom was a fabulous cook. The first time Mom went with Dad to the ranch, she wore a very nice house dress, pantyhose and 1½-inch pumps.
In the early days Alta Grace cleared away brush wearing pantyhose, 1-1/2-inch pumps and a house dress.
Over the years, she turned into the Ranch Woman her pioneer ancestors would have been very proud of. Alta Grace cut brush, built roads, herded cows, rode horses, drove a tractor, baled hay and even installed a new roof on the ranch’s first structure, a one-room cabin with no bathroom.
Mom plowing the front pasture to make hay.
The ranch is home to a whole host of wildlife including poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes. The poisonous snakes include copperheads and Texas’ most venomous snake, the coral snake. It’s a skinny little rope-like snake that greatly resembles a harmless king snake. Dad taught us an old rhyme to help keep the two reptiles straight. “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, poison lack.”
Mom loved her cows, especially the babies.
Texas Women Shoot Their Own Snakes
On of my favorite t-shirts says, “Texas women shoot their own snakes.” I love it. It reminds me of Mom.
One of the last weekends I spent at the ranch visiting with my folks (about ten years ago), I spied Mom through the sliding glass door. She was bending over at the waist and holding a hoe in her hand. I opened the door and asked, “Whatcha doing, Mom?” She pointed at the ground and said very casually, “Oh, I just killed a coral snake.” Indeed, after examining the body of the ex-snake I found that red touched yellow. Alta Grace Rainbolt didn’t need no stinkin’ gun to take out venomous snakes. She did it with a hoe! Mom’s transformation into Ranch Woman was complete.
Red touch yellow, kill a fellow.
Just as Jesus was fully God and fully man, Mom was fully elegant lady and fully Ranch Woman. To prove it she conquered her greatest fear wearing 1½-inch pumps and coiffed hair.
Love ya, Mom. You were one of a kind.
Alta Grace celebrates my birthday last year.Last photo I took of Mom, a selfie left to right: Dusty, Alta Grace, sister Margaret. I’m glad I get to remember her this way. Yes, she still got her hair done.
The Poe Toaster was as mysterious at the poet’s death
January 19 is the 208th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth. The revered American suspense author, poet and cat lover is best remembered for “The Black Cat” and “The Raven.” Poe was born in 1809 and died in 1849 at the still-young age of 40. For seven decades, usually sometime between midnight and 6 a.m. on Poe’s birthday, a mysterious man known as the Poe Toaster paid tribute to the author next to Poe’s headstone at Baltimore’s Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. The black-clad gentleman, a character as mysterious as the poet himself, always wore a wide-brimmed hat and white scarf to hide his face, and carried a cane.
The Poe Toaster was first noticed in 1949 (in year of the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death). The morning of January 19 the stranger entered the cemetery and raised a toast of Martell cognac to Poe. At the grave he left the unfinished bottle along with three red roses placed in a distinctive pattern. The Poe Society of Baltimore admits that some details have been kept private so they’ll recognize the real Toaster from the copycats.
A cryptic note left behind in 1993 stated, “The torch will be passed.” That apparently happened. A message left in 1999 announced that the original Toaster had died the previous year and a son had taken over the tradition. Watchers agreed that the Toaster appeared younger. Hopefully the elder Toaster is now sharing Martell with Poe face-to-face.
Then it got weird.
A 2001 note ranted about the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl chances. A note left in 2004 included a diatribe about France’s opposition to the Iraq war. Obviously not the same dignified old Toaster. The son of the Poe Toaster last appeared in January 2009 marking the end of an era.
In 2010, he failed to show. In 2011 four impostors showed up, but unlike the real Poe Toasters, they made no effort to conceal their presence They didn’t give the secret gesture and failed to place the roses in the Toaster’s particular arrangement.
And while the Poe Toaster is to “Quoth the Raven, “’Nevermore,” the Maryland Historical Society could not let the mystery man die with dignity. Last year, they sent out a cattle call for “Baltimore’s Next Poe Toaster.” Competitors auditioned in a public America’s Got Talent–style audition performance. Even though his selection was very public, organizers are keeping his name a secret.
The NextGen Toaster, made his first debut after sunrise on January 16, 2016, three days before Poe’s actual birthday. (Sadly, like national holidays, Poe’s tribute has been moved to the weekend. The dignified expression of respect has evolved into a spectical. Worse still, a tourist trap.) While the new Toaster wore the traditional apparel, he added his own twist by playing Saint Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” on the violin. After he raised the cognac toast and laid the roses, he quoted the Roman poet Martial, “Cineri gloria sera venit”, which means “Glory paid to one’s ashes comes too late.” Then he left.
In a break with the early morning tradition of the original, this year the new faux Poe Toaster will appear at Westminster Hall between 6 and 7 p.m. tonight.
At the time of Poe’s passing, newspapers attributed his death to “congestion of the brain” or “cerebral inflammation”. Today’s doctors speculate he could have succumbed to alcohol poisoning, epilepsy, syphilis, cholera, rabies, brain tumor, carbon monoxide poisoning, mercury poisoning or even murder.
What do you think of the revival of the Poe Toaster?
About Dusty Rainbolt
Author Dusty Rainbolt is an award-winning veterinary journalist according to her answering machine. She is an associate certified cat behavior consultant and member of International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, as well as past president of the Cat Writers’ Association. Her books, columns, reviews and articles have been honored with more than 50 writing awards including three-time recipient of Friskies Writer of the Year. Her just-released cat behavior book, Cat Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, is the consummate guide for dealing with a cat who sidesteps his/her appointed toilet. CSI, which provides science-based methods for determining the medical or behavioral causes of feline inappropriate elimination, teaches cat parents to view their cat’s litter box avoidance through the eyes of a detective to determine the cause and, ultimately, the remedy.
A couple of weeks ago I listed the celebrities, scientists and cool people who died in 2016.We lost not only human celebrities, we also said goodbye to numerous animal superstars. From lonely tropical frogs to wetsuit-clad penguins, here’s the list of last year’s notable animal deaths.
January 22. Sarah, the world’s fastest land mammal according to National Geographic Magazine, was euthanized at the age of 15 “due to a diminishing quality of life.” Sarah lived at the Cincinnati Zoo.
March 29. Baxter was the former first dog of Maine. He died from cancer at age 11. In 2008 the Jack Russell terrier was adopted by Lauren LePage, the daughter of future Maine governor Paul LePage.
Scooter’s record of the World’s Oldest Living Cat never made it to the record book. He died at the age of 30.
April 8. Scooter held the title “The World’s Oldest Living Cat: according to Guinness World Records, for a very brief time. Born March 26, 1986, during the Reagan administration, the 30-year-old Siamese owned by Gail Floyd of Mansfield, TX, was confirmed Oldest Kitty by Guinness on April 8, 2016. However, Scooter lost his title even before Guinness made it official. A Guinness record holder must be confirmed with a veterinarian’s letter and the paperwork processed before they formalize the title. The process usually takes around 12 weeks. By the time Guinness completed the formalities, poor Scooter had passed away. Thirty cat years equals around 136 human years. Prior to Scooter’s short reign, Corduroy, a 27-year-old Maine Coon from Sisters, Oregon held the record. With Scooter’s passing, the crown returned to Corduroy.
May 6. Pierre was known as the penguin who sported a miniature wetsuit. The quirky African penguin had a lot in common with American Idol hottie, Chris Daughtry. Pierre was bald; more accurately, he had bald spots. Pierre, who lived at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco, lost patches of feathers. Keepers tried warming him with a heat lamp and treating him for hypothyroidism. Finally biologist Pam Schalle helped design a vest-shaped neoprene wetsuit to protect him from the bitter cold. Like the sexy bald guys, Sean Connery, Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, being follically challenged didn’t interfere with his love life. Pierre shared a nest with his girlfriend, Homey. They made a dozen little ones together. In mid-2016, vets diagnosed Pierre with kidney failure. He died at 33.
Naked Pierre looked dapper in his neoprene wetsuit.
May 28. Harambe was a 17-year-old Western lowland silverback gorilla living at the Cincinnati Zoo. Zookeepers shot and killed him after a three-year-old boy snuck past fences and barricades before falling 15 feet into the gorilla enclosure. Fearing for the boy’s life, zoo officials dispatched Harambe the day after his 17th birthday. The parents were not charged.
June 7. Bretagne, was a search dog who hunted for survivors at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks brought down the World Trade Center Twin Towers. She also looked for victims in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. The Golden Retriever was the longest surviving 9/11 search dog. She was euthanized at the age of 16 due to kidney failure.
July 3. Arturo, a polar bear who lived in the Medoza Zoological Park in Argentina died at the age of 31.
August 18. Machali, a Bengal tiger, was known as the Queen Mother of Tigers. At the time of her passing wild life experts believed she was the world’s oldest tigress surviving in the wild. She lived in India’s Ranthambore National Park. In August 2016, she became critically ill and died at the age of 20.
August 27. Big Lobi, a 22-pound Massachusetts lobster, appeared destined for someone’s dinner plate. When Chris and David Schmidt saw the 50-year-old lobster for sale at the Chatham Fish Pier Market in Chatham, MA, they bought his freedom for $210. Sadly, two days after the brothers released Big Lobi, a fisherman found him dead. By the size of Big Lobi, experts estimated the giant crustacean survived 50 trips around the sun.
Toughie was the World’s Loneliest Frog
September 26. Toughie was the last known surviving Rabb’s fringe-limbed tree frog. Scientists believe that with Toughie’s passing, Rabb’s frogs officially moved to the extinct column. Known as the “Loneliest Frog on Earth,” conservationists captured Toughie in 2005 during a Panamanian expedition to rescue endangered amphibian species from a deadly chytrid fungus. They transported Toughie and “several dozen” Rabb’s frogs and tadpoles” to the Atlanta Botantical Garden in Georgia. Toughie made tadpoles with one of the rescued females, but none of the little ones survived. After Toughie’s girlfriend croaked, that left only Toughie and another male at Zoo Atlanta. Veterinarians euthanized the second to the last Rabb’s frog on February 17, 2012, due to illness. Toughie died quietly in his enclosure at the estimated age of 12.
October. Granny (also known as J2 to marine biologists), went missing after October 12. Whale researchers believe she was 105 years old. In January 2017, the Center for Whale Research announced the likely demise of the longest living known orca.
October 16. Jia Jia, a female giant panda, was the world’s oldest captive panda. A resident of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, caretakers made the difficult choice to euthanize Jia Jia because she had become lethargic and stopped eating. She suffered from arthritis, high blood pressure and cataracts. Jai Jai’s 38 years translated into about 114 in human years.
October 17. Pedals was a New Jersey black bear who became a sensation after videos of him walking upright like a human appeared on the internet. Pedals was killed by a hunter.
November 14. Mahpiya Ska, also known as White Cloud, was a rare albino American bison who lived at the National Buffalo and Cultural Center in Jamestown, ND. Native Americans believed the 19-year-old animal was sacred.
December 28. 2016 was a bad year for pandas. Pan Pan was a male giant panda who lived at the Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre in Chengdu, China. After Jia Jia’s death in October, 31-year-old Pan Pan became the oldest giant panda in captivity, at least for a couple of months. He died six months after being diagnosed with cancer.
December 30. Sutter Brown, California Governor’s Pembroke Welsh Corgi, died from cancer at the age of 13.
Did I leave any significant 2016 animal deaths off of the list? Please tell me in the comments below.
It’s the end of year. Can you believe it? 2017 is peeking around the corner. The deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mom, Debbie Reynolds, bring 2106 to a heartbreaking close.
I once met Carrie Fisher in person during the middle of a hurricane. It was an intimate setting, just me, my BFF Debbie Waller, Beverly Margolis…and 10,000 strangers. (I’m guessing at the audience numbers. I have no idea how many people were there.)
I so looked forward to the Simon and Garfunkel reunion concert. OMG! Those blended voices. I still don’t think I’ve heard anything as beautiful. We bought our tickets months in advance and counted the days, hours and minutes until we actually experienced their music live.
On August 18, 1983, the morning of the long awaited concert, Hurricane Alicia slammed into Galveston and then blasted her way into north Texas. (Don’t worry. I’m getting to Carrie Fisher.) As I watched the approaching weather on the news, Debbie, Beverly and I wondered whether to stay home or brave the storm. After all, this concert was held in the famous open-air Cotton Bowl Stadium, rain or shine. We unanimously agreed we would go despite the threatening weather.
In our haste to beat the storm, we all forgot to bring our rain gear. We found our seats in the nosebleed section, sat down and watched the brand new computerized scoreboard. Across the giant screen the words, “Welcome Alicia” swelled and then disappeared. We sat in the balcony, soaked, freezing with the rain dripping off our noses.
Organizers delayed the concert due to heavy rain. Finally, a lull opened up and the Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel took the stage. (A few weeks earlier, Diana Ross has performed in New York’s Central Park during a rain storm.) Paul told the audience, “If Diana Ross can do it, we can too.”) The concert began with “Mrs. Robinson.” Their harmony sounded like angels.
In the days before the internet, a majority of the audience didn’t know Paul Simon had recently married. Simon invited his new bride to join them on the stage. To my astonishment, the bride was Princess Leia herself. Just a few month past the release of “Return of the Jedi,” I expected Carrie Fisher to have long flowing brown hair, or delicately braided locks, but to my surprise she wore a super short do. (The abbreviated style probably looked better in the rain, anyway.) Simon coaxed Fisher into accompanying the duo on the drums. She obliged him and the audience went wild. What an amazing bonus. After a couple of numbers, the bar holding the lights began to sway crazily in the wind and Simon, Fisher and Garfunkel retreated backstage. The singers reappeared when it was deemed safe again, sans Fisher. We shivered through the rest of the concert, their trademark song, “Sounds of Silence.”
What a night: Simon and Garfunkel in a hurricane with Carrie Fisher. You just can’t make this stuff up. I’m so glad I got to see her in the flesh just once. Goodbye Carrie. You will be missed.
But Princess Leia wasn’t the only loss from the Star Wars family in 2016. Both the Empire and Alliance said goodbye to many of their beloved members.
March 2, 2016 Tony Dyson (1947–2016) built the original Star Wars R2-D2 droid. He made eight R2-D2s for the film series. In August, R2-D2 himself, Kenny Baker also died. April 3, Erik Bauersfeld, the voice of Adm. Ackbar, died age of natural causes. James Earl Jones’ wife Cecilia Hart died of ovarian cancer on October 16 at 68. Peter Sumner, the Empire’s Lt. Pol Treidum died at 72 on Nov 22. Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher’s mom, died the day after her daughter, of a stroke at the age of 84.
Other Celebrities who Died in 2016
So, as long as we are thinking about saying our goodbyes, I’d like to say acknowledge absent friends celebrities, scientists and writers who left us this year. I will miss:
Jan 14. Alan Rickman, the villain Professor Snape in the Harry Potter series. He also played Elliott Marston in Quigley Down Under. We also loved him in Galaxy Quest and Die Hard. His Marvin the Paranoid Android was the only redeeming performance in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Pancreatic cancer took him at the age of 69.
Jan 26. Abe Vigoda played the deadpan (and appropriately named) detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series Barney Miller. He was also in The Godfather. He died of old age at 94.
Jan 28. Mike Minor who played the hunk Steve Eliot on Petticoat Junction died at age 75 of cancer.
Feb 3. Maurice White, the founder of Earth, Wind & Fire died at 74.
Feb 4. Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut who became the sixth man on the moon. He and Alan Shepard helped NASA regain their reputation after Apollo 13’s near fatal accident. Mitchell died at age 85 after a short illness.
Feb 11. Sadie. (2001–2016) German Shepherd actress who starred in Man in the Chair, Super 8 and Alpha Dog.
Feb 13. Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court justice, died suddenly at the age of 79.
Feb 19. Harper Lee, 89, was the author of, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Feb 28. b 28. George Kennedy, 91, played the cigar-smoking airplane mechanic in Airport, Col. Gregory in In Harm’s Way, a chain-gang convict in Cool Hand Luke and he was in the funny Naked Gun series.
Mar 2 Tony Dyson (1947–2016) built the original Star Wars R2-D2 droid. He made eight R2-D2s for the series.
Mar 6. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan passed away at 94.
Mar 21. Bob Ebeling was booster rocket engineer who felt guilty for decades for not stopping the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. He was 89.
Mar 22. Rob Ford, the world’s funniest politician former mayor of Toronto, known for his antics unrepentant drug use and use of obscenities died at the age of 46 from cancer.
Apr 3. Erik Bauersfeld, who was the voice of Adm. Ackbar in the Star Wars series.
May 1. Madeleine Lebeau (1923 – 2016) played Yvonne in Casablanca. She was believed to be the last surviving cast member of the classic Humphrey Bogart film. She died of complications following breaking her thigh bone.
May 19. Alan Young, who played Wilbur Post the owner of talking horse Mr. Ed, died at 96. I so wanted a talking horse. He also provided the voice of Scrooge McDuck on the cartoon series DuckTales.
Jun 19. Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in the new Star Trek movies died at 27 due to injuries received in a freak accident involving his car.
Jul 3. Noel Neill was the first actress to play Lois Lane in the 1948 movie serial Superman alongside Kirk Alyn and later opposite TV’s Man of Steel, George Reeves. She was 95.
Jul 16. I don’t expect anyone to remember Bonnie Brown, in the family quintet The Browns. In 1959 they recorded a depressing little song called “The Three Bells.” For some reason I loved it.
Jul 19. Garry Marshall was the creator of Mork & Mindy, The Odd Couple, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. He died at the age of 81 of complications from pneumonia after having a stroke.
Why couldn’t she see this coming?
Jul 26. Psychic Miss Cleo passed at the age of 53 to colon cancer. Why didn’t she see this?
Jul 27. Jerry Doyle played Michael Garibaldi, the Chief of Security on board the space station Babylon 5 and host of “The Jerry Doyle Show,” a nationally syndicated radio talk show. The Clark County Coroner’s Office said he died suddenly from natural causes, with complications from chronic alcoholism being a contributing factor.
So sad about Jerry Doyle. Loved him as Mr. Garibaldi. He was also a politican and radio talk show host.
Aug 6. Jazz clarinest Pete Fountain died at 86 of heart failure.
Aug 13. Kenny Baker, who played Princess Leia’s droid R2-D2, died at 81 after after suffering from a lung illness.
Aug 28. One of the funniest humans ever, Gene Wilder passed at the age of 83 of complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He made me laugh until I cried at the neurotic Leo Bloom in The Producers, The Waco Kid in Blazin’ Saddles and the mad scientist in and The Frisco Kid.
Aug 28. Darrell Ward, the Montana Legend of Ice Road Truckers fame, when a Cesena 182 he was piloting crashed near Missoula, MT. Ironically, Ward was enroute from a trucking show Dallas to filming the pilot for a documentary-style show involving the recovery of plane wrecks. He was 52.
Sep 8. The Lady Chablis, the real life transgender performer in the 1994 best-seller (and later in the movie), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, died of pneumonia at 59.
Sep 8.Greta Zimmer Friedman was , 92, the woman captured in the iconic celebratory V-J Day photo of a white-clad nurse being kissed by a sailor George Mendonsa of Rhode Island) celebrating the end of World War II in Times Square.
Sep 25. Arnold Palmer, seven-time major winner who brought golf to the masses, died of complications from heart problems. He was 87.
Sep 28. Gary Glasberg, producer of NCIS, passed away suddenly at age 50.
Oct 16. Cecilia Hart, a stage and screen actress and the wife of Darth Vader voice James Earl Jones died of ovarian cancer at 68.
Oct 30. Don Marshall, who appeared in Star Trek, Julia and Land of the Giants, passed away at age 80 of natural causes.
Nov 11. Robert Vaugh, 83, was best known as the spy, Napoleon Solo, on the 1960s show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Vaughn, 83, died Nov. 11 of leukemia.
Nov 22. Peter Sumner, who played The Empire’s Lt. Pol Treidum in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope or as I call it, the Original Star Wars, died at the age of 72.
Nov 23. Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in the British sitcom, Fawlty Towers actor passed away after a four-year battle with dementia. He was 86. You’ll have to forgive him. “He’s from Barcelona.”
Nov 25. Ron Glass, known for playing detective/novelist Ron Harris in Barney Miller and Shepherd Book in Firefly passed away from respiratory failure at the age of 71.
Dec 8. John Glenn was part of the Mercury program and the first American to orbit the Earth in 7 in 1962. He was also senator from Ohio. He was the last surviving Mercury astronaut. He was 95.
Dec 25. Vera Rubin, the groundbreaking astrophysicist who discovered evidence of dark matter redefined our understanding of the cosmos, died at the age of 88.
Dec 27. British author Richard Adams, who penned Watership Down and Plague Dogs.
Dec 27. Carrie Fisher, actress, author and mental health advocate died after a cardiac arrest at the age of 60, four days after experiencing a medical emergency near the end of a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles. Everyone knows Carrie Fisher is best known as Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Imperial Senate and an agent of the Rebel Alliance.
Dec 28. Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher’s mom, died the day after her daughter, of a stroke at the age of 84.
Lend me you ear. I know politicians have a bad habit of saying “mission accomplished” before the job is really finished, but I believe I can say that, mostly.
With the exception of Lilly, all of Lorie’s babies are in their new forever homes. Cross-country transport would be too traumatic on the little white three-legged cat, so she’s staying at Lorie’s clinic (Hoffman Animal Hospital) until a new family is found. Lilly must go to a quiet local with no dogs, small kids, or aggressive cats. Tia, the receptionist at the clinic is carefully screening adoption applications.
Thank you to everyone for their financial contributions, for opening your homes to these little orphans and for spreading the word.
Rhette went to live with Dolly the Doxie.
Dillion found his way to Kentucky to live with Rachel Phelps where he now tests cat products and models.
Merlin & Midge have been adopted together by one of Lorie’s neighbors.Rusty was adopted by one of Lorie’s clients.
Thank you to;
Tia-Elise, Kelly Brady-Famiglietti and Mary Pepin for their boots-on-the-ground work. They cared for the kitties and transported them as necessary, until homes were found.
Incoming CWA President Marci Kladnik for arranging transportation.
BlogPaws’ Chloe DiVita for raising money to pay for vet care and transport and Pets360.com for offering cat food.
The BlogPaws community, Susan Gingrich, Diane Stuckart and Allia Zobel Nolan for your monetary donations.The funds allowed us to ship cats, buy food and litter, pay for shipping and diagnostic tests. After all the volunteers have been reimbursed for their expenses, I will send the remaining funds to Lorie’s brother, Tim. Lorie has an enormous outstanding hospital bill and the money will help at least a little.
Despite this shocking and devastating loss, I am glad that the animal blogging community, Lorie’s friends, family, clients, employees and the Cat Writers’ Association came together to save her kitties. Lorie would be pleased.
My friend and Cat Writers’ Association President Dr. Lorie Huston passed away yesterday after a lifelong struggle with liver disease. Lorie had six rescued kitties whom she dearly loved. They are living in Providence, RI. The family has asked that homes be found for Lorie’s babies. As you might expect, they are all fixed, current on their vaccinations, and negative for diseases. Some or all are declawed. The kitties are all rescues, not closely bonded and do not necessarily need to be placed together. They are special needs, of course, because that’s how Lorie rolled. Read details below.
Lorie’s vet clinic does not have the room to board the kitties. The clinic’s receptionist is trying to help, but is recovering from a serious dog attack and has transportation limitations so it is very difficult for her to check on them. We are looking for forever homes, foster homes, no kill shelters, people to transport and possibly even donations to pay for transportation or boarding.
BTW–Pet Assure veterinary discount plans has offered three free months to anyone who adopts one of Lorie’s babies.
If you’re interested in adopting or fostering any of Lorie’s kitties or helping out in any way, please fill out the form below.
Lorie’s cats
Lilly is Lorie’s 11 year old and a tripod. When Lilly was just an 8 week old kitten she lost her leg, part of her tail, and several toes after a dog attack. Rather than euthanizing the homeless brown tabby, Lorie performed the necessary surgery to save her life, then adopted her. Lorie said Lilly is laid-back and very sweet. She’s a happy, healthy, older lady who doesn’t even realize she’s one leg short of a full set. She cannot go into a home with dogs. She is spayed and FeLV/FIV/HW negative.
Midge is about 6 years old, spayed, declawed and FeLV/FIV negative. Midge came from a litter of orphaned kittens, hand-raised by a friend. Lorie had room for one more cat and Midge joined her family. She is a shy girl and would do well by herself, as the other cats pick on her. CORRECTION: Midge is friendly. Lorie always fed her separately, and watched to make sure the others left her alone. Lorie said Midge is standoffish with the other cats but loves people.
adopted!
Rusty was left at Lorie’s clinic by an animal control officer. The poor kitty was extremely ill with a respiratory infection and was treated at the hospital. After he recovered, he would always find his way into Lorie’s exam room and hang out in her sink. Lorie couldn’t resist him. Rusty, who’s between 4 and 6 years old, is a personal favorite of clinic staff. Lorie said Rusty is shy at first and easily frightened, but very sweet. He’s declawed, neutered, and negative for FeLV/FIV/HW.
adopted!
Dillon, who is between 4 and 6 years old was left in a cardboard box on the clinic’s doorstep. He immediately began rubbing all over Lorie. It was love at first sight. She adopted him the next day after being neutered and tested for FeLV/FIV. Lorie said Dillon is curious about everything and seeks attention from anyone.
adopted!!!!
Rhette is a 6 to 8 year old neutered and declawed boy who was left in a carrier in the hospital parking lot. After being examined and found to be healthy, he joined Lorie’s growing family as well. Lorie said he is demanding and very vocal. He thinks he’s the boss. He can be a bully. He’s confused and a little nervous in Lorie’s absence, but friendly.
Merlin, now 6 to 8 years old, is neutered and declawed. He was living unsuccessfully as stray cat near the hospital. He was determined to become a member of the staff. When someone opened the door, he strolled right in and made himself comfortable. He’s a funny cat who always made Lorie laugh because he likes to throw his whole body over his food bowl. He’s mellow and minds his business, and does his own thing. Lorie said Merlin seeks attention but is less confident than Dillon.
Former POW and U.S. Air Force Capt. Darrel Edwin Pyle shortly after his release by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi on 12 Feb 73. Pyle was captured on 13 Jun 66.
When I was in high school and the Vietnam was was in full swing, I wore a POW bracelet to honor and remember an American prisoner of war. It was an simple stainless steel strip engraved with a POWs name and the date he was captured. You were supposed to wear it until your guy came home.
Jerry Singleton\’s POW bracelet
My POW was a young pilot named Darrell Pyle who was held captive for seven years. Pyle was in the very first group of prisoners to be released on 12 Feb 1973. I placed a star sticker on my bracelet to indicate my POW had returned safely home. I continued to wear Pyle’s bracelet for several years to remember those who are still MIA. I only removed when it I feared it would break in half from wear.
Although I never got to meet Darrel Pyle, I had the honor of interviewing another Hanoi Hilton alumni, Jerry Singleton, in 1995. During that interview I learned the real horror of what these brave people went though. Jerry informed me that Major Darrel Pyle died in an aviation accident less than two years after his release.
Rest in peace, Major Pyle. Thank you for your sacrifice. And thank you Jerry Singleton. We are grateful.
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle, wife Karen, son and an escort look over the giant C-5 Galaxy aircraft on the flight line.
PowerNetwork.org says about Pyle’s capture: “On June 13, 1966, while on an armed reconnaissance mission in the southern part of North Vietnam, the F4C Phantom fighter bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire and became uncontrollable. Both ejected, but Lurie ejected from low altitude (about 350 feet at 450 knots), and sustained a compression fracture of the spine. The DRV used Plye, the Systems Operator and Lurie as a traveling show until 29 June when they arrived in Hanoi and were thrown into Hoa Lo prison, more commonly known as the Hanoi Hilton.\r\n\r\nThe day was February 12, 1973. The location was Gia Lam Airport, North Vietnam.
The sky was broken to overcast and the air was chilled by the winds which swept down from China. I sat in a bus beside a bombed-out hangar and watched a plane taxiing toward the runway. The plane was a 141 and had big letters which said, “UNITED STATES AIR FORCE.” I was crying. Before the plane could take off another 141 broke through the overcast and roared over my head. My plane – my chariot had come to take me home.
Sadly Darell Pyle was killed in a plane crash in Alaska only a year-and-a-half after he returned home. Here’s the account of his tragic death less than two years later in the Anchorage Times, 29 Dec 1974
“27 Dec 1974: Maj Darrell Pyle died when his Piper PA-18 crashed around noon at Six Mile Lake, Elmendorf AFB. His nine year old son, Philip, survived with minor injuries.”
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle is greeted by MGEN John Gonge, Commander 22nd Air Force and BGEN Ralph Saunders after his arrival from Clark Air Base, Philippines.
The fuel tank in the plane ruptured on impact causing minor fires. Major Pyle was recovered from the wreckage and taken to the Elmendorf AFB Hospital where he died of injuries sustained in the crash. His son was treated for cuts and bruises and released.
“He was born on 24 April 1940 in Long Beach, CA; graduated from Compton High School, Compton, CA, in 1958; and the University of Arizona and joined the Air Force in 1963.\r\nHe had rowed down the Amazon River and spent time in the jungles of Ecuador. While in captivity, he dream ed of coming to Alaska.
“He was assigned to the 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadron as an F-4E pilot. Major Pyle had been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with V device with oak lead cluster and a second oak leaf cluster to the Air Force Commendation Medal. He was cited for his resistance to more than 40 days of extreme physical and mental torture. He had written a book about his POW experiences. The publisher, however, wanted more details on his torture, which he did not want to go into again, and it was never published. The 3rd Wing Headquarters Building is named after Major Pyle.
Former POW and U.S. Air Force CPT Darrel Edwin Pyle, wife Karen, son and an escort look over the giant C-5 Galaxy aircraft on the flight line in February 1973.
If you are interested in more information on heroic Major Pyle, visit TogetherWeServed.com,
Nixie taught me a lot in her almost 18 years. In saying goodbye to her, she taught me her greatest lesson. Read about how I learn to use the quality of life scale at Catster.com.
So many of you asked me to post my father’s eulogy, so here it is.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Dusty Rainbolt, Alta Grace and J.D.’s baby girl.
My favorite statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” I believe he was talking about my Dad, J.D. Rainbolt.
J.D. was born the eldest child of Ike and Mary Rainbolt. Husband of 73 years to Alta Grace Frost Rainbolt. Father to Art, Margaret and myself. He was the grandfather of Christopher Rainbolt, Laurence Woodruff and Mary Woodruff and great grandfather of Sebastian Rainbolt. He was a patriot, engineer, outdoorsman, rancher and animal lover.
Dad arrived in this world J.D. Rainbolt in January, 1917. My grandfather, a former minor league baseball player, named his first son after a good friend on his team. If you go online and check J.D.’s military records, it will say that John D. Rainbolt was born in 1916. So where did the name change and birth date discrepancy come from?
Lt. Rainbolt on the right with unknown officers
When he was in high school in Dallas, Texas, J.D. wanted to join the ROTC, but he was a year too young, so on the form he said he was born in 1916. That got him through the first step. Shortly afterward, the ROTC commandant called Dad’s mother and needed to know what J.D. stood for. J.D., it’s just initials–just like the baseball player. Sorry the commandant told her, he can’t have just initials; he has to have a name. So, on the spot Grandmother renamed her 14-year-old son John Dee Rainbolt. Even at that young age he loved his country so much, he changed his birth date and even his name in order to begin his military career.
In 1936, J.D. went to work for the phone company as a cable repairman, climbing telephone poles in Dallas’ sweltering summers and freezing winters. In 1940 he married the love of his life. Because of his critical job at the phone company, J.D. couldn’t be drafted. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, his bride signed a waiver allowing him to join the army.
JD started out as a cable repairman climbing telephone poles in the sweltering Dallas summers and icy winters
The army wanted to make him a second lieutenant in the infantry. But Dad knew his life expectancy would be measured in minutes. He held out and was inducted as a first lieutenant in the signal corps. He served in France as a communications scout. He was proud of the fact that all of the men under his command returned to their families, alive.
Dad truly was one of The Greatest Generation. They saved the world, and J.D. had his hand in it. He was a champion of the defenseless but in his own subtle, humble way. On one occasion he drove up on some French soldiers who were forcing their young enlisted German prisoners to dig graves before executing them. Dad took the prisoners away from the French and sent them to the rear where they were processed as very relieved prisoners of war.
In the photo tribute to JD, you will see an unassuming photo of a partial bridge, the bridge over the Rhine to the German city of Remagen. Dad was asked to volunteer for a suicide mission to provide communications as the Americans fought for the bridge. Dad told his commander that he wouldn’t volunteer for a suicide mission and leave his wife a widow, but he would go if ordered to do so. His commander issued the order and Dad chose two men to accompany him. Fortunately, before they could carry out their orders, the Army crossed the Rhine down river and Dad’s mission was aborted.
JD’s commanding officer ordered him to undertake a suicide mission to set up communications during a battle at the bridge over the Rhine to the town of Remagen, Germany. Fortunately, before JD could carry out his orders another bridge was captured down river.
To Dad, the word “holocaust” wasn’t a metaphor. He witnessed it firsthand. In the final days of the war, while on a mission to set up communications ahead of advancing American troops, J. D. and his driver were the first Americans to discover the network of six concentration camps in Landsberg, Germany. Dad described the stinging stench of the smoldering boxcars as their Jeep crossed a bridge and they approached a barbed wire compound. The gates had been forced wide open and skeletal Jewish women stood outside the entrance holding up plates of fresh cookies, gifts for their American liberators. I never thought to ask Dad if he tried the cookies or what they tasted like. Pity. I now would like to know that. Dad had his orders, so he could offer no assistance except to call back and alert the approaching army about his horrifying discovery. I can’t imagine the helplessness of witnessing such brutality and frailty. I’m sure the scars of that day followed him his entire life.
After the war, he remained in the Army Air Corps reserves (which became the U.S. Air Force) rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel. He also returned to the phone company where he would eventually be promoted to the Military Activities Engineer, responsible for all military communications for the southwest.
Another of Dad’s favorite stories was about his participation in Operation Cue that would help determine how much damage a nuclear blast would cause to housing and infrastructure, including its effect on communications.
Just before sunrise on May 5, 1955, a 2½ kiloton atomic device, equivalent to 50,000 tons of TNT, was detonated from a tower at the Atomic Test Center in Nevada. J.D. waited in a foxhole 5½ miles from ground zero. If you looked at J.D.’s photo memorial, you may have noticed a mushroom cloud amidst all the personal photos. That wasn’t a press shot. Unlike everyone else pressed against the floor of their foxholes, when the bomb detonated, J.D. climbed out of his and took pictures of the fireball until the shock wave knocked him down.
In the l960s, J.D. was responsible for communications when Lyndon Johnson visited his ranch in south Texas. I had no idea how important Dad’s job was until I started going through his old records. I found secret plans for Harry Truman’s funeral, as well as LBJ’s. There were secret diagrams of Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s ranch. There’s a whole new set for President Johnson’s ranch. Poor Dad. During those stressful years, LBJ gave J.D. a bleeding ulcer.
But there was another side to J.D. Rainbolt—J.D. the Papa. He was a hands-on Dad when he had that luxury of time. He took Art, Margaret and me fishing, but at different times. And at those moments, we had Dad’s undivided attention. When I was nine he taught me to shoot a .22. As we matured and developed different interests, our activities changed. He and Margaret went to baseball games. He took me to movies (Patton, The Longest Day. I remember Dad and l laughed till our cheeks hurt as we watched Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines, one of my fondest memories. He took me to hear all of my then-favorite singers Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash.
On one of our overnight excursions, Dad confessed to me that he loved me (and of course my mom and siblings) so much he was willing to die to protect me. Wow. I understood that to mean that he would always keep me safe. He was willing to die for his wife and kids; he was willing to die for his country. John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
I know it’s hard to segue from that, but bear with me just another moment.
A few months ago when I was going through Dad’s papers, I found a yellowed crumbling newspaper article that detailed J.D.’s pivotal role in establishing the air raid warning sirens in Harris County, and probably one of the first in the country. Since the end of the Cold War, the purpose of the sirens has changed. Where I live in North Texas, these early alerts are used primarily for tornado warnings. In Flower Mound they go off at least a couple of times each tornado season.
We all know about the legend that when a bell rings an angel earns his wings. But Dad has his own twist. From now on, whenever I hear those tornado sirens, I know that Dad is still looking out for me.
You see Dad, you really had a wonderful life. I love you.
