by Tom Ryan
Perhaps Atticus was different from the very beginning—as Paige said—and that’s why he selflessly led me over all those mountains when he was going blind, because he knew there was something in me that needed to do that. Or maybe what made Atticus special was Paige’s selflessness in giving up the one thing she never wanted to give up to a stranger who needed him more than she did. Then again, it could have been that he was allowed to be who and what he wanted to be, for he was raised first by Paige and then by me as we both wished we’d been raised . . . and loved. No matter the answer, I was taught to be more selfless by both Atticus and Paige, and I turned from a life where I wrote about the limits of mankind and instead chose a life without limitations, where middle-aged, overweight men and little dogs can do the most remarkable things together—even in some of the most dangerous conditions in an ancient mountain range.
Someday, if I outlive my family and friends and most of my good sense and I end up in a nursing home as my father did, those who take care of me will surely think me mad when I tell them of one little dog and the adventures we shared, 188 mountains climbed in three winters, and a night on the stage of the JFK Presidential Library.
How lucky we have been, this man and dog, to have the experiences we’ve shared, and how many lifetime memories we’ve accumulated since we met. I cannot imagine a world without Atticus in it, not now, not while the adventures keep coming.
As for our next adventure, Atticus made me believe that love is the answer to nearly everything, and I was ready to give it another try. Seven years after I had picked him up at the airport, he and I were returning there—to pick up our date. Paige Foster was flying up from Louisiana. She was finally going to those mountains two thousand miles away from the life she knew, and she would see the views her little dog had seen, then lost, and finally found again.
Neither Paige nor I could predict how things would work out between us. But that’s the thing about adventures—you’re invited to take a chance without knowing the outcome, and all that matters is that you say yes. Getting together for a first date after all those years was fitting. Because the fact was, Paige had taught me more about love than anyone I’d ever known. She taught me how to love completely and selflessly as she held my hand in bringing up Atticus.
There was something else fitting about our giving love another chance together. I was seven when my mother died and I lost my innocence, while Paige was seven when her grandfather stole hers. We’d been forced out of the Garden at the same age, and we’d found our way back again. It was Paige who put it best: “We are two seven-year-olds who lost our way a long time ago, and we are coming home, brought together by a seven-year-old dog we both love.”
In telling the story of my friend Atticus M. Finch, I often think of that wonderful line from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Perhaps love is the process of my gently leading you back to yourself.”
For that’s what that little dog did. He led, I followed, and in the end I became the man I dreamed of being when I was a little boy.
So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
—A. A. MILNE, THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER
Acknowledgments
I was once asked if Atticus was the perfect dog. “He’s perfect for me,” I said. That’s the way I feel about Brian DeFiore, my agent. He recognized this story for what it could be and helped me grow it into a book. In the process he made me reach to become a better writer. Where Brian left off, Cassie Jones, my editor at William Morrow, took over. Atticus’s breeder, Paige, once thanked me for letting Atticus be who he wanted to be. “You didn’t train the Atticus out of him,” she said. I’m thankful for Cassie’s enthusiasm, insight, and guidance. More than anything, I am blessed to have an editor who not only didn’t edit the writer I was out of me but, like Brian, helped me become a better one. There are numerous others in the William Morrow/HarperCollins family I’m grateful for. Seale Ballenger, the head of publicity, has been a friend from day one (and Atticus gives a shout-out to Maddie and Petey), and I also appreciate the strong support and efforts of Jessica Deputato, Liate Stehlik, Lynn Grady, Jean Marie Kelly, Shawn Nicholls, Shelby Meizlik, Megan Swartz, Mary Schuck, Nancy Tan, Maureen Sugden, Lisa Stokes, and Nyamekye Waliyaya.
When I went looking for an artist to create a map of the White Mountains, I never realized I’d find one less than a mile from my front door. Kathy Speight Kraynak’s masterful pen-and-ink drawing ended up far better than my imagination had envisioned it.
I started my writing career in Newburyport as the publisher and editor of the Undertoad. The lessons Ed Metcalf, Doug Cray, John Battis, and Carol Buckley offered up were a great education for a budding scribe, and they’re still with me. Tom O’Brien and Sue Sarno were among those who gave me my Newburyport education. My Newburyport family includes the always supportive Peter Jason Riley and Bob Miller.
Paul Abruzzi, the manager at Newburyport’s Jabberwocky Bookshop, is not only a grand friend; his generosity and advice helped me take the step from newspaperman to author.
Steve Smith and Mike Dickerman will tell you that when they wrote The 4,000-Footers of the White Mountains, their objective was to produce a guidebook. But to me it was a treasure map that helped me find the pieces of my fragmented life and put them back together. Many a new hiker finds him- or herself falling asleep with their book on the nightstand. Thanks to the hours I spent at Steve’s Mountain Wanderer store in Lincoln, New Hampshire, I met others who shared a love of the mountains. Two of them, Ken and Ann Stampfer, turned out to be our White Mountain family. Their love and friendship sustained me when I moved north.
What does a newspaperman do when he leaves his newspaper behind? He finds a new one. Or in my case, I was fortunate the Northcountry News and Mountainside Guide found me. I didn’t realize that when Bryan and Suzanne Flagg first invited me to write “The Adventures of Tom and Atticus” in their pages I would be writing much of the outline of this book.
Atticus appreciates Marianne Bertrand and her staff at Muttluks for their generosity and for making sure his paws are always protected with their invaluable hiking booties.
I send my love to my aunt Marijane Ryan and my sister-in-law Yvette Ryan. They’ve been my biggest cheerleaders, and both read my manuscript religiously, offering guidance and helping me to steer clear of pitfalls.
Special thanks go to Romeo Dorval; Lisa Dorval; David and Emmett Hall; Constance Camus; Peter and Julie McClelland; Laura Lucy; Marie Bouchard; Christine Vallerand; Laini Shillito; Sue Little; Tom Jones; Jeff Veino; Aaron Lichtenberg; Manford Carter; Joe Carter; Leeane Galligan; Leigh Grady; Kevin, Cal, and Ruby Bennett; Christine O’Connell at the North Country Animal Hospital; the Friends of Atticus; and Sarah George—my sister from another mother.
I cannot say enough about the staff at Angell Animal Medical Center and MSPCA Angell in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts—particularly Atticus’s vet, Maureen Carroll. Kathleen Santry, Diane Wald, and the rest of the good souls in the fund-raising office were instrumental in assisting us when we raised money for animals in need. All you need to know about MSPCA Angell is that the first people to contribute were members of its staff. Imagine working at a place you believe in so much that when you get paid you turn around and give it back some money. It’s just one of the things that make MSPCA Angell an extraordinary place.
Last, if it were not for life-saving emergency surgery by Drs. Stuart Battle and Bob Tilney of North Conway’s Memorial Hospital, I wouldn’t have lived to finish the book. It was their good work and the incredible care of my ICU nurses, Maureen Murphy Ansaldi and Doug Jones, that kept me alive during septic shock. (And yes, the hospital was good enough to let Atticus stay with me every day, even in ICU.) I’m forever grateful.
Photo Section
From the very beginning, Atticus had a strong sen
se of self. He knew what he liked and didn’t like. Here, just a few months old, he contemplates the purpose of his leash.
I have never gotten over my fear of heights; however, I just had to step out onto Bondcliff for this photo.
The “Little Buddha” can’t get enough of summit sitting . . . no matter the season.
Look closely and you’ll see Atticus heading toward the summit of Mount Monroe, the fourth-highest peak in the White Mountains.
Standing on top of Mount Jefferson under bright blue skies on a rare February day when it was warm enough to go without a hat, a coat, or gloves.
The most unlikely winter hiker sits atop deadly Mount Washington one March day.
“We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.” —Li Po
This is the stormy-day look. It says it all: “When can we get out and hike again?”
After a full day traversing Franconia Ridge, we take in the view from Mount Flume.
Winter in the White Mountains can be enchanting, as is evident here on the way to Mount Field on the Willey Range.
Atticus and I don’t believe much in limitations. Whatever people may say, for him, winter was just another season for hiking.
Atticus has always been happiest when outside, particularly in the woods or on top of a mountain.
About the Author
TOM RYAN is the founder of the Newburyport, Massachusetts, newspaper the Undertoad and served as its publisher and editor for more than a decade. In 2007 he sold the newspaper and moved to the White Mountains of New Hampshire with miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch. Over the last five years, Tom and Atticus have climbed more than 450 four-thousand-foot peaks.
After raising thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, the pair was inducted into the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Hall of Fame as co-recipients of the Human Hero Award. Tom currently writes the popular “The Adventures of Tom & Atticus” column in the Northcountry News and Mountainside Guide, and the blog The Adventures of Tom & Atticus. Tom and Atticus live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
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Credits
Cover design by Mary Schuck
Front cover photograph by Tom Ryan
All insert photographs are by the author except for #2, #5, and #9 by various kind hikers.
Copyright
The names and identifying characteristics of some individuals have been changed.
FOLLOWING ATTICUS. Copyright © 2011 by Tom Ryan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © September 2011 ISBN: 9780062101303
Version 12212012
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ryan, Tom.
Following Atticus : forty-eight high peaks, one little dog, and an extraordinary friendship / Tom Ryan.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-199710-5
1. Ryan, Tom. 2. Mountaineers—United States—Biography. 3. Dogs—Anecdotes. 4. Dog owners—Anecdotes. 5. Human-animal relationships—Anecdotes. I. Title.
GV199.92.R93A3 2011
796.522092—dc22
[B]
2011005118
11 12 13 14 15 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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