Kinship with All Life

by J. Allen Boone

Is there a universal language of love, a "kinship with all life" that can open new horizons of experience? Example after example in this unique classic -- from "Strongheart" the actor-dog to "Freddie" the fly -- resounds with entertaining and inspiring proof that communication with animals is a wonderful, indisputable fact. All that is required is an attitude of openness, friendliness, humility, and a sense of humor to part the curtain and form bonds of real friendship. For anyone who loves animals, for all those who have ever experienced the special devotion only a pet can bring, Kinship With All Life is an unqualified delight. Sample these pages and you will never encounter "just a dog" again, but rather a fellow member of nature's own family.

Genres: Animals, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Nature, Philosophy, Classics, Memoir

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a tiny tot we had a skunk that sometimes shared our house. Not a pet skunk, mind you, but a wild skunk with all stinkbombing apparatus intact. This skunk slept in the bottom drawer of a built-in bureau. Mr. Skunk had somehow found his way in through the walls and into that drawer. My mom let him stay. She communicated with him both verbally and mentally. Somehow she made him understand that he was welcome as long as he confined himself to that one drawer and never sprayed his scent anywhere on the property. He cooperated, and got a nice, cozy indoor bed.

One of my earliest memories is of opening that bottom drawer, thinking "Skunk is sleeping," closing the drawer, and continuing on with my diaper-clad day. It was the most natural thing in the world to me that Mom communicated with critters, and I've always done the same.

So we come to late 2010. My frail, elderly mother says to me, "I have a book I want you to read," and she hands me Kinship With All Life. "This is the philosophy I used when I was raising you kids." All these years, and I never knew she got it from a book!

Now I've read the book, and I feel fortunate to have grown up with the philosophy. None of it seems strange or ridiculous to me, because I've been doing it from infancy. All it takes is respect, humility, and the recognition that real communication is silent and comes from the heart---yours and theirs.

[Sher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful gift I got fr Christmas from a friend. Exceptional little book about one man's ability to see universal spirit in all animals from a film star dog to a house fly. Though each essay tells a story about about happenings between him and that animal- essentially this is a spiritual book about what unites us to all living beings. It's also about communication and how we can live in harmony with other creatures by being able to share their nature instead of by dominating them. Quirky -- interesting read. The spiritual perspective is definitely worth exploring.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small book written in the 50s, the author is sharing stories about when he dog-sat for this Hollywood dog star and how smart this dog was and how he learned to communication with the dog. Then he goes on to make friends with and communication with Freddy the Fly...that part of the book is actually really awesome. I know, it's sound ridiculous, but it will make you take another look at insects and all living creatures.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished, a good book to read and a good place to start for those interested in animal communication. I recommend reading it before anything recently written.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I love animals, and before I had even heard of this book I believed that animals are more intelligent and aware than most humans give them credit for. There are plenty of studies out there that have evidence to strongly support the idea that many animals are sensitive to changes in water and air pressure, electromagnetic signals, and audio frequencies (for a more in-depth report, watch this interesting video from PBS), so emotions and thoughts is not too much bigger of a leap.

But, contrary to what I thought when I purchased this book, J. Allen Boone is not talking about this "extra sense" (and I do not mean to imply, by that term, psychic or soothsaying abilities); but instead something just as magical as fortune-telling. If he was suggesting that there is a unifying energy and innate harmony in nature and all living beings, and that animals are more apt at sensing an individual's energy (and thus his/her intentions, feelings, and even opinions) then I would agree; but what he actually purports is that if we manage to put aside our ego and pride and manage to communicate with other species, it is not actually either body doing the talking but a "Mind of the Universe." This theory strikes me as too theological, romantic, and overly simplistic.

The author also disregards one of the most basic principles of science: the differentiation of causation and correlation. He attributes the absence of ants in his home to an instance when, after leaving his icebox open, he speaks to them "as a gentleman to a gentleman." Has he tried leaving his icebox open since then? And in the section on earthworms he pretends that the earthworms only create nutrient-rich topsoil for his friend as long as he gives them soothing compliments (and not because that is what earthworms naturally do?). He attributes Miss Wiley's success with snakes to her "silent talking across to it," but conveniently downplays the importance of the padded stick she uses to make first contact - an obvious conditioning method. While some of the events with Freddie the Fly are certainly intriguing, the described actions largely just sound like the typical activity of a housefly. His greatest success story is that of Strongheart, the actor-dog, who undeniably displayed remarkable intelligence but Boone barely addresses the fact that this dog had extensive military training before he had ever met him.

I also would have liked this book to be less anecdotal and more educational, but maybe Boone's friend, Mojave Dan, was right when he said, "if you want facts about a dog, always get them straight from the dog. If you want opinions, get them from the human."

Towards the end of the book, Boone states a useful motto of his and Freddie's: "If you would learn the secret of right relations, look only for the good, that is, the divine, in people and things, and leave all the rest to God." Maybe Boone is dramatizing and exaggerating these interactions to seem more significant, or maybe I am just too cynical and/or skeptical to believe that any communication between myself and another animal is not an alignment of energy or mutual appreciation but rather God utilizing two vessels to speak a universal language. Still, an interesting-enough read.

[Karen Terrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. Allen Boone's *Kinship with All Life* was thought-expanding for me. It's helped me look at all that expresses life - from skunks to bacteria - in a kinder and more thoughtful way.

Here's a passage from the book that gave me a new perspective on our relationship with animals - here Boone relates a conversation he had with one of his animal friends, "Freddie the Fly": "Unexpectedly, every question that I sent across to Freddie was followed, through the medium of these returning impressions, by a silent counterquestion. I asked Freddie what he was supposed to be doing in my world; back almost instantly came a demand to know what I really was supposed to be doing in his world. I asked him why it was that flies treated us humans so badly; right back came the question: why had we humans always treated flies so badly. Then my inner ear suddenly caught this: The important point to consider was not so much what either of us was doing in the other's world, but what each of us was doing as a contributing factor in a universe belonging to the Creator of it all."

I enjoyed this book very much.

I'm going to try to use what I learned from it in the ultimate test: mosquitoes. Wish me luck.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this is simply written and humorous without being trite. It starts out about a man and a dog, and how they begin to communicate, then evolves and ends with a tale of Freddy the fly. I love it. I think it is eloquent and straightforward and has elements of mysticism without any jargon or dogma. this guy had direct experience and didn't dilute it with big words or inflate it with self importance.

[Judy Pokras · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago. It's about an actor dog (one of the ones that played Lassie on television) who taught the author (a screenwriter) how to communicate spiritually with all living creatures. It's a beautiful book. Ironically, I'm someone who has never had a pet. But nevertheless, I love animals.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 5 out of 5]

People consider animal sentience and rights at modest and staunch levels. This is the most ideal book for those people who would consider equal intellect among ALL mammals and animals, a surprise or stretch. It orients gradually by the story it shares: not solely of a famous German Shepard but a friendly, communicative housefly! I don't harm anything that isn't sucking blood or biting. If a moth is stuck indoors, I cover a glass with a piece of paper and help her get back outside. You would be surprised by the colourful, BEAUTIFUL insects I have met across arm or leg; because I do not automatically flick them away.

This story is told by a man who babysat an acting dog and couldn't believe his intellect. That prepared him to be aware of a housefly interacting with him; not once but living with him. This sounds odd to some, natural to others but for both, this is a journey worth taking for yourself. I discovered this book after our family kitty passed away, well into her second decade. I needed to know if other people were aware animals are as sentient as we are. I was thunderstruck to find this is old news. Receiving confirmation of the dearest belief I hold, which I thought would be difficult, was the happiest realization of my life.

You need to know this skinny book's value. It spins narrow-minded perception and the human illusion of superiority, on its head. The question of whether animals speak, reason, and have opinions are the chief reason for presuming disposability! We wouldn’t dream of killing them, after witnessing or holding a two-way conversation with them ourselves. Be as sceptical as you like until you read this. I recommend this perspective upgrade to anyone. Their former mindset doesn’t matter.

[Anirudh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended in a post by Dr.Robert Svoboda whose Aghora triology opened me up to a whole new adventurous world out there with men and women doing stuff that can be said to be bordering on the realm of fantasy. So, I promptly ordered the book through my library and began wolfing through it. Another thing that interested me to read the book was that the blurb on Goodreads indicated that this book was about man-animal relationships. I was never really comfortable in my skin when dealing with animals, so I was curious about it.

The book is an account of the author's experiences with chiefly two members of the animal kingdom- 1. Strongheart, a German shepard, which was apparently a sensation in Hollywood in the 1950s which was succeeded by the more popular Rin Tin Tin.
2. Freddie, a humble housefly which landed on the shaving mirror of the author one fine morning when he was in his better moods.

The author was given charge as Stronghearts "caretaker" for a couple of weeks as its owners had to move over to another city for some occasion. His initial rendezvous with this terrific dog leaves him in awe of the dog's abilities and determines him to open up a communication channel to better understand the dog. How he succeeds in opening up this pathway with seemingly "intellectually inferior" forms of life compared to humans form the rest of the book.

This is a short interesting highly readable book if you are looking for a light read. I recommend it for those who like animals or those who are looking to find a way to communincate with them:)

[Sharon Searles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man who doesn't know animals takes care of a movie star dog and learns to communicate with him on a deep level. Then he goes on to other species, and a general knowing of the ways of the universe. It's about animals, people, spirituality, and I've used it for practical advice to successfully ask ants to leave our home. I'm not kidding!

[Erica Chang · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this I hope to communicate with my dog better. I hope he doesn't get upset at me if I have to leave home (for a long time). Must be humble and respectful to all things. Animals have feelings too.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic book for those with interest in the interconnectedness of all life forms. Or animal lovers. A short collection of examples of people and animals communicating intuitively. Should be on the shelf of any metaphysics lover. Easy quick read but very uplifting and satisfying.

[Lynette Metza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago and it helped shape my life's philosophy: we are just another species of animal and we have a responsibility to assure animals' safety and dignity. We're all in it together.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love animals you will love this book. If you don't love animals you will learn from this book. If you dislike animals you need to read this book.

[Aida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my absolute favorite books ever. It has changed the way I interact with all living things. I highly recommend this book if you have a fear of spiders, snakes or any critter. It may even help in your personal and romantic relationships. Just sayin

[Melisa Buie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated and redundant but Strongheart was a special dog.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Must Read! This book highlights the importance of all life, even that of a fly! It will make you look at all of your pets, and all animals/lives, differently.

I recommend this book to anybody of any age.

[Lisbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have any kind of animals this is a book for you but of course for all animal lovers. Dr Dolittle invited us to 'speak to the animals' and this is book that has the same message but maybe on another level. The initial story of the book is about the German shepherd Strongheart who was a famous movie dog in the 1920ies. He came to stay with the writer for some time and a very strong bond developed between the two. This was of course a very well trained dog and when you read about their time together he seems very human. Ah, but stop... this is exactly the point. Boone means that we humans always put ourselves above the animals and think ourselves superior. However, in the dealings with Strongheart the writer discovers time after time that the dog has his own private sphere and life which is on an equal level with himself. Mentally, we have to see each other as equal creatures and try to find the level where we can communicate with each other. Words are not always necessary although we often seem to think so. There are many fantastic stories in the book on how intelligent this dog was. You wish you had a dog like that to teach you a thing or two!

Having been very successful with Strongheart, Boone continues to investigate people who live very closely with their animals and seem to have a special bond, for example indians and their horses, bedouins and their camels and horses. They see their animals as equals and all of us have been created by a higher authority to understand each other. You have to open your mind to one another. You think though that to reach this universal language and understanding with animals it works with a dog like Strongheart. However, Boone tells in his book on how he managed to use this universal language of love to also capture the spirits of other animals. In the book he tells the stories how he befriended a skunk, ants, earthworms and Freddie the fly...!

This book came as a recommendation from my friend Yana who already have adopted a universal language with everything around here. She had a problem with mice in her kitchen. Everything had been tried to get rid of them, even a call to a company specialising in these kind of things. Nothing helped. After having read this book she took her time, sat down and talked with the mice and some time afterwards they had left her house! Exactly what happened with Boone and his ants which is described in the book. I therefore am now inclined to sit down in my garage, talk to the mice there in a friendly manner, tell them I love them but I don't really want them in my garage during the winter and maybe they should just try to find another resting place for the next winter! I will keep you posted!

[Patricia Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Leslie This is a deceptively small book, containing some quite vast ideas within its pages. In it, Boone chronicles his own spiritual odyssey, from a very material-minded Hollywood-based writer and producer, to a pioneer of animal communication. The catalyst -- or perhaps a better word is guru -- for Boone's spiritual journey, was the canine movie star Strongheart -- a German Shepherd Dog, a champion in Germany, extensively trained in police and military work. He was imported to Hollywood in the 20s as something of a speculative venture, and soon became a film sensation.

At one point during Strongheart's movie career, his co-owners were called out of town, and asked Boone to step in as caregiver. At first, he was far from keen on the responsibility. But almost immediately, Strongheart demonstrated such phenomenal intelligence, that the reluctant dogsitter was forced to completely reevaluate his attitude toward dogs, particularly this one. As Boone describes, Strongheart took charge of him and his life, even deciding what time Boone should get up and go to bed. Soon, he discovered that the dog was able to "read his mind," even when they were separated by house walls. In fact, in a couple of anecdotes, he also details incidents in which Strongheart was able to read other people's minds, and expose them as fraudulent-minded criminals.

Before long, Boone found himself on a spiritual quest, reversing the traditional "man as trainer" role, to himself become the dog's "student." He studied Strongheart in detail, noting down all his "qualities of abiding worth," which emerged from an innate zest for living. Boone came to believe that a being's outward form is irrelevant to the being's inner nature, and that "the Mind of the Universe is constantly speaking through all life and for the greater good of all life." He finds this perception shared by others he meets, including an old "Desert Rat," a woman herpetologist, an Indian chief, a Bedouin chief, and a scientist who has an uncommon rapport with micro-organisms.

Boone's accounts have the ring of truth; no-one could make up a story as idiosyncratic as his deep bond with "Freddie the Fly," detailed in the book's final chapters. His relationship with Strongheart was undeniably life-changing.

Still, some readers may find it easier to dismiss his claims as wishful thinking or self-delusion. That is probably the more comfortable view for most human beings; because if Boone's assertions are true, and every living thing is capable of self-awareness, it would mean a lot of soul-searching for most of us, about our relationship to the animal realm.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hiking in the woods when I came upon a pack of wild boar, a creature whose violence I have been warned of by many different people. I was close enough to look a huge one in the eye, and I felt a personal connection with this boar, a sort of mind reading where I let her know I am passing through and I respect their space. I felt an answer from her that I should pass through safely. I felt a peace, I thought I should be afraid, but I am not. I ruminated on this for the rest of my hike. I knew exactly how crazy that sounded. I was aware that the logical explanation was that this communication was all in my head and those boar chose not to bother me as long as I left them alone regardless of whatever was going on in my head. But the fact is I still felt it, and it felt real to me, and I about 70% believe it was real. The other 30% questions my own sanity.

So later in the week I opened up about my experience to a group that I felt would not ridicule me believing what I believe happened. An older woman in the group recommended that I read this book. So here I am.

As a child I used to believe I had relationships with animals, even flies. I remember my mother explaining to me why we can't like flies, and I was sad, but I followed her lead. J. Allen Boone's story sounds pretty wild. My inner skeptic is loud. But what do I know? Perhaps this man really has experienced these things, which is just taking my experience to a deeper level. Am I arrogant enough to say that because I haven't communed with life the way he has that he is lying? No, I am not. His description of us all being part of one universal mind and letting them mind flow through us resonates with my soul.

So do I believe in all this stuff? I don't know. Did he give me a lot of contemplate and do I look at life differently now? Yes and yes.

[Marty Doskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this book was released about 70 years ago, but it still is very relevant today and has aged pretty well. An encounter with a Native American tribal chief definitely sounds a bit dated, but generally the book sounds like it could be from recent times. Most of the author's thoughts about animals come from his time dog-sitting a famous movie star from 100 years ago. Before Hooch, before Benji, before Lassie, before Rin Tin Tin, there was Strongheart. He was a famous German Shepherd in the movies of the 1920s. Mr. Boone shows us that we have a "kinship with all life" as told in the title. He talks about his time with Strongheart, his experiences with worms, and his brief stint with Freddy the fly. I know this sounds weird, but it's actually a good book with a lot of great thoughts.

I actually listened to an audiobook of this book that was put out by Post Hypnotic Press a couple years ago. I really enjoyed actor Michael Puttonen's narration. I know this may sound weird, but he made the words sound modern and not "old timey". His speech was casual and tone was friendly. He really made this book sound contemporary.

Thank you to Post Hyponotic Press for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Jeff Maziarek · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who already believes that animals are far more sentient than modern science judges them to be, I just loved this book. The author's detailed accounts of his experiences with Strongheart, a famous canine film star who was revered for his film work back in the 1920s, were very interesting and thought-provoking as well. If J. Allen Boone is accurate in his conclusions, then eventually mankind is going to have to face the fact that the entire manner in which many animals are treated in our culture (e.g., today's "factory farms") is at a minimum inappropriate, and perhaps even criminal.

What if animals really do have awareness of what is happening to them? If that is indeed true then there can be no excuse for not totally revamping the manner in which many are harvested for food. From my perspective, if this practice is to continue, then at least utilize an approach that respects the individual consciousness of each being whose life is being taken so that humans may continue to have life. If you are a person who loves animals, and who has always felt at some level that they are much more than they appear to be on the surface, I highly recommend this book.

[Regina Mastrogiacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific book about how if we listen to animals they can teach us about how we can live with each other and respect each other boundaries. The book also talks about, how the use of words to describe animals is how we condition ourselves to feel about them without any thought if what we think is true, and that animals can pickup on emotion and will react accordingly.
I myself have done some of the things mention in the book and they have actually work to solve some problems. I have also come to the belief when an animal happens to come into my house it isn't with any ill intent, so I help it back outside. I also respect the fact that the outside belongs to the animal kingdom and not to humans, even though we think so, and I respect their space and try not to put my belongs outside that may cause distress between.
I believe that there aren't any bad animals but misinformed humans who believe in legends instead of facts.

I want to thank Post Hypnotic Press Audiobooks for an advance copy of this wonderful look at how all life is related.

[Donna Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty elementary writing but I stayed with it until the end and I loved something at the end, when discussing the author's view of a common housefly. He realized that as he identified the fly as either intelligent or unintelligent, good or bad, friendly or unfriendly, co-operative or uncooperative -- that was precisely how the fly behaved. For he was nothing more or less than the state of the author's own consciousness about him that made manifest in his outward experience. The author came to see him as a fellow expression of the Mind of the Universe, realizing that all living things are individual instruments through which the Mind of the Universe thinks, speaks and acts. "We are all interrelated in a common accord, a common purpose and a common good. We are members of a vast cosmic orchestra, in which each living instrument is essential to the complementary and harmonious playing of the whole." A good lesson for me, and something interesting to ponder.

[Callum D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinship with all life is an incredibly strange little book, in the best way possible.

This book does what all good books should do; peel back new layers to your thinking whilst leaving you feeling like it spoke only of entirely self evident and obvious things.

The main points I took away from this book:

Firstly; All manifestations of life will act accordingly to how you perceive and think they’ll act.

Secondly; There is no ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ form of life, all forms are equal and whole - thinking in such a way will limit you from making any real kinship or peace with life.

Lastly; To know someone, truly, is to wipe the slate clean of all biases and all preconceptions; know an individual as an individual who has no past nor future as far as you’re concerned.
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4.5 Stars - Loses half a star for my sense that many of the anecdotes here were too overtly embellished.

[Crystal Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this, and I didn't think I would. I read it as "a book your mom loves" for a reading challenge. It has really made me think about how I approach all creatures. I've always loved animals, and have worked in various vets for 11 years, but have never given other forms of life this type of thought. It's just a very good book. The bible parts kind of threw me, as I'm not a religious person, but I love the exploring spirituality in this book. Definitely recomended to anyone who wants to read a different take on interacting with our world.

[Bjömun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book after hearing Alan Watts mention it in one of his lectures. I feel that the experiences themselves are highly personal as and such, hard to comprehend as anyone who has not had a similar encounter. However, I do see value in this book, as it promotes a fairer, more respectful mentality towards animals in general, no matter their size or their characteristics, which is always a good thing.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. If you love animals and have a respect for all living things this is an intriguing, enlightening, challanging and delightful book, which is as relevant today as it was when originally published in 1954.

[Daniel Meyers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got waaaay to ridiculous. It's amazing this book has an average of 4 stars.