Science shows how our relationships with companion and other animals can change our lives for the better and influence how we view the world. Along with detailed research in a field called anthrozoology—the study of human-animal relationships—countless stories illustrate this tie up companion animals, wild neighbors, and other animals can brighten our days and help us appreciate and respect the animals we come in contact with in many different ways.1
When I received a new copy of NPR host Scott Simon book called Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Know, I immediately thought, “Wow, finally an easy read about cats that I know so much about but always want to know more about.” However, when I read this well-written and beautifully illustrated book (by The New Yorker cartoonist Liana Fink), I immediately knew that Simon would go beyond these wonderful cats and write about joys, worries, love and more. a joke among different animals and how they changed his life for the better and how he viewed the world.
In this memoir of Simon’s relationship with animals, you’ll meet his family’s dog guiding his child’s first steps, a cat who escaped from the British Embassy, stray dogs during the siege of Sarajevo, a beta fish named Salman Fishdi, and Bagel, a hamster who escaped from his cage. Here’s what he had to say about his personal journey into the wonderful world of wild animals.
Mark Bekoff: Why did you write it? Ulysses S. Cat and other animals I know?
Scott Simon: Animals have always been a part of our family’s life. I think growing up with our two daughters has helped me realize and appreciate all the “running buddies” I have along the way: cats, fish, hamsters, and our French poodle, Daisy. Their lives have inspired me to fondly remember the animals I’ve known growing up and as a journalist around the world.
MB: How does your book relate to your background and general interests?
SS: I am a father, husband, and working journalist who has been blessed in my work to travel the world and get information from people, from Chicago to Kabul to Sarajevo. Humans have shared our lives with animals for 30,000 years. As I suggest in the book, we can use better and wiser words than “owner” or “fur babies” to describe how animals become part of our family. I say “running partners” because they walk with us every step of the way – sometimes literally. One of our cats, Leona, may have shown our oldest daughter, Elise, how to crawl when Elise first came home with us from an orphanage in China. I have been with people in Sarajevo who have risked their lives to walk their dogs and share the little aids they have with them.
MB: Who are you trying to reach??
SS: People who have animals in their lives and people who don’t know how rich their lives with animals can be until they read the stories I tell.
MB: What topics do you cover and what are your key messages?
SS: I will try to tell you that our family has always included animals: Leona, a small orange British cat (she slipped through the bathroom window of the embassy and we agreed to raise her as a British cat), who showed our eldest daughter how to crawl, to our current French poodle, Daisy, who accompanies us on long walks and invites us to talk. Their stories remind us how animals can bring us out of our shells.
I will share how people in war zones incorporate their animals into their survival stories. I have gone back nearly 30,000 years of sharing our lives to show how humans and animals manifest in our lives in great works of art and the many remnants of our shared experience through trials, tragedies and celebrations.
And I share the questions that those of us who know and appreciate animals should be asking ourselves about how animals are used in medical research and should remain a part of most diets. Are we at the point where we no longer need to use animals in modern life? Are there ways we can now reduce the number of animals, be they lab rats or cattle, whose lives are used to develop our own?
MB: How does your work differ from others that deal with the same general themes?
SS: I think my approach is that of a storyteller, not a scientist. And as much as I appreciate this scholarship, I hope so Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Know, I can communicate in a conversational and engaging way that takes readers on the journey we take. It is important to note that sharing our lives with animals can enhance our lives dopamine and serotonin levels, making us feel less aloneand help those who can live together depressionpost-traumatic stressAlzheimer’s and dementia. But I like to think that these thoughts can sink in as we tell the real-life stories of the animals who have become memories and heroes in our lives—Daisy, Hoppy, Gato Blanco, Marjane, and others.
MB: Do you hope that as people learn more about these animals, they will appreciate them and treat them with the respect, dignity and compassion they deserve?
SS: Yes. You don’t have to believe that animals are as intelligent, sensitive or sensitive as people (although every year science reveals new evidence that brings us closer) to animals for their magnificence and many gifts – friendship, friendship, laughterinspiration – they bring into our lives just by being.
