July 9, 2010 - Marathon - L. E. Shaffer: Owner's Prerogative. Since before I declared my candidacy for Marathon City Council, Editor Marilyn Tempest has been in total control over content. There are a few rare times that the owner may take his prerogative to report very sad news notwithstanding any of Dick Ramsay's unfounded complaints. About the same time in 1997, a very famous cat named Kitty had a stroke and died quickly and painlessly. I was away on business. I was devastated to lose her, as all of my extended family and quite amazingly thousands of Internet admirers and fans. I've been told that it was one of the largest responses to a pet’s, albeit famous, passing. A few newspapers carried the sad news. She was real to people because I took seriously translating here meows, tail wags, and facial expressions. "Kitty Talk" was a monthly article from the cats to their worldwide fans. Those fans were saddened with Kitty's passing, but then there was Ebony and later Abby who took over and made "Kitty Talk" even more popular. Ebony stood out as a cat with more personality than all the Marathon City Council candidates put together even including me. Today at 6:45 PM Ebony's kidneys failed and chances of survival were slim. Marathon Veterinary Hospital Dr. Gerry and I made the decision to let her go. I didn't want to let her go. Ebony and I were together since she was four weeks old until today. You cannot understand how devastating this is for me and many others who knew her. In Ebony's honor "Kitty Talk" that was on hiatus will return with Abby and a new cat member sometime soon. I've been told many times that "Kitty Talk" should come back regardless how important the Journal's local political coverage seemed to others and me. Ebony would want that. No one was a stranger to her. And amazingly, there are thousands out there who know her intimately from "Kitty Talk". So then, it is my sad responsibility to report Ebony's sudden passing. I remember the last Ebony thing she did the night before. If you bent over and your back was flat, she loved to get on your back. Don't know why, doesn't matter. She had that unique way of making you feel good about yourself. I know what comes next because I have been through it before. Thousands of emails, calls, texts, and so on will pile into the Journal. Some newspapers will write of her passing. Yes, for a cat, a pet, but famous nonetheless. I still see her in all her old familiar places. This seems at times too much to bear, but the living must go on. I know the difference and importance between animal and human, yet our animal friends have earned our respect and grief at their passing. Goodbye, Ebony... She was just a cat born May 6, 1996, died July 8, 2010. |
