Letters to Strongheart

by J. Allen Boone

Effective April 17,2012, the book is out of print. There is no date currently for a reprint.

Genres: Animals, Nature

243 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1939

Reviews

[Tara ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~ Anatole France

If this truth doesn’t resonate with you to your very core, you likely will not fully understand the powerful meaning and emotion that author J. Allen Boone put into every word, every antidote, every shared memory between himself and his dearest friend Strongheart, a German Shepherd who was the star of many films during Hollywood’s golden era.

So many of us consider ourselves animal lovers, but see them as just that ~ animals. And more accurately, they see them, but they don’t truly ‘see’ them. They see their physical presence, but they don’t see the soul. They don’t see all the wonderfully complex and intricate and irreplaceable aspects and characteristics that are unique to even the very smallest of creatures. Each one is a unique individual, with personalities and features just as extraordinary and valuable as our own.

I have had the great good fortune to have shared my life with many legends, the most recent being a former street cat with no teeth and a barrel chest named Bear. The moment we met, I knew that there was something very special within him. During the four years we were a part of each other’s lives, he taught me so many things, how to sit still and be present and unconditional love being the two most significant of his lessons to me. When he passed last November I felt as if my heart and broken into a million pieces. The thought of not seeing him in this life again was overwhelming to me. Knowing my grief, a friend of mine quietly gave me this book.

I just finished reading this today and while the pain of my grief over the loss of my boy is still there, knowing that I’m not alone in how I connect and love the animals that I’ve shared my life with over the years has been like a balm to my heart at it’s most hurting. Not everyone who reads this book will understand it, but for those of us who do, it’s message will serve as an affirmation to the value and meaning of all life. 🌿

[modesto lombardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongheart

Tremenda historia me encantó como se relaciona con el perro y empieza uno mismo a ver a sus perros diferentes!

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordered to keep as there are some classic essays here that a quite keepable.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letters from a Hollywood producer to a dead celebrity dog. It is illuminating to read this so soon after The Year of Magical Thinking - the author is clearly in the early, delusional stages of grief so ably documented by Didion.

[M. Sarki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, not great, but worth reading, especially my review here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/LETTER-TO-STR...