It’s Finally Here! (Jim the Wonder Dog Podcast from KCUR)

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happy senior wearing headphones inviting audience to listen to podcast

The Jim the Wonder Dog episode has finally been released. You may remember me talking about the interview I gave back in July. It has been a long wait, but A People’s History of Kansas City did a great job on the podcast. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.

Listen on your favorite podcast service, or stream the episode straight from the KCUR website.

They also have an article about Jim on their website (but you really should listen to the podcast!). If you want to know even more, check out my book, Jim a.k.a. the Wonder Dog.

A Special Drawing of Jim

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drawing of Jim in car
Jim in Car

Friends of Jim the Wonder Dog in Marshall, Missouri, put out a call last month for 4″ x 4″ pencil drawings of Jim. Their plan is to create a wall hanging with the submitted drawings.

I was intrigued and couldn’t resist, so, of course I was compelled to create an entry.

Four inches by four inches is not very big so I suspect they are planning on a lot of submissions. It sounds like an interesting idea, and I am looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Large Headphones and a Funky Mic

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In the recording studio, Producer Suzanne Hogan interviews author Nancy Dailey about Jim the Wonder Dog of Marshall, Missouri. Nancy is holding a copy of her book, JIM aka The Wonder Dog.
Suzanne Hogan, left, of KCUR 89.3 interviews Nancy Dailey, right, about Jim the Wonder Dog and his ties to Marshall, Missouri.

It took about three hours to arrive at my destination–the studios of KCUR 89.3 in Kansas City, Missouri, an affiliate of NPR, National Public Radio. Now 11 a.m. Friday, July 19, 2019, I am in a recording studio. It’s kinda cool to sit in front of a funky-looking microphone and listen through headphones to what is being said, what I am saying.

This is an interview for part of an upcoming series of NPR podcasts about lesser known community histories. Producer Suzanne Hogan contacted me for this interview after reading my book JIM aka The Wonder Dog. Jim was an actual dog that lived in Missouri from 1925-1937. He had some very unusual talents which have never been explained, even today. Although Jim lived in three towns in Missouri, Marshall is the community that has taken Jim to heart and is doing what it can to keep the dog’s memory alive. There is a Jim the Wonder Dog park located in the exact spot where the Ruff Hotel was. That also happens to be where Jim lived. There is a museum next to the park.

My interview is scheduled to be aired in November 2019.
Stay tuned.

PS: A note from Suzanne: “The interview sounds good.”

A Royal Palace, A Caterpillar

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Royal Palace in Amsterdam

What is now a royal palace in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was built in the 1600s as an impressive City Hall.

The unusual caterpillar was found in the jungle of Suriname, South America.

What could possibly connect these two things on different continents an ocean apart? Not royalty, not even someone from the wealthy upper class; it was a little old lady named Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717), a lady well known in her time for her studies of caterpillars and their metamorphosis into butterflies or moths; and for her painted illustrations of them.

Having seen a few specimens of unusual butterflies in the collections of wealthy collectors, Maria decided to travel to South America to discover what kind of caterpillars became these beautiful butterflies. Her friends and acquaintances were horrified and tried their best to dissuade her. They argued that 1 she was too old to make a two-month sea voyage (at 50 she WAS old), 2 the trip was too dangerous (it WAS dangerous, what with storms, pirates, and probably inadequate food), 3 she certainly could not travel without a man accompanying her (she had already done so twice), and 4 the cost was prohibitive (it really WAS a lot). Reason number four was the only one she was concerned about. She made plans and apparently sold everything she owned except her art supplies.

When her friend, the mayor of Amsterdam, realized that Maria was determined to go, and probably that she could also bring him some new specimens for his own collection, he persuaded the city fathers to help fund her trip.

Upon her return to Amsterdam two years later she was invited to exhibit some of the insects and other small creatures she brought back with her. The exhibit was a huge success since these were things most people in Europe had never seen before. They were amazed.

You can read all about this and more in my book Chasing Caterpillars, the Life and Times of Maria Sybilla Merian. It can also be ordered here on this website.

My First Encounter With Jim the Wonder Dog

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When I was a 20-something I lived in Marshall, MO, and worked in an office of the Missouri Valley College there in Marshall. One day in the office all the buzz was about a discovery the newly hired librarian had made. It seems the former librarian, who had retired, had placed a stack of books in the vault “never to be placed on the college bookshelves.” Among her personally banned books was one written in 1942 by Clarence Dewey Mitchell titled Jim The Wonder Dog.

What could possibly be so bad about a dog book that she would actually ban it? Turns out the book was written from the dog’s point of view, and she said, “Dogs can’t talk.” Ergo no placement where students could find it!

Naturally, after work, I bee-lined it to the city library and checked the book out. I was not enthralled with the way it was written, but the story was fascinating. It was stored somewhere in the back “shelves” of my brain and I went on with life.

Many years later, having just completed my first book, the members of my critique group quickly asked, “What are you going to write next?’ I shrugged my shoulders. Then out of my mouth came the words, “Jim the wonder dog.”

“What?” “Huh?” “Wonder dog?”

They had never heard of this marvelous dog. And I knew what my next book would be; now available!