A Dog's Purpose

Writers live somewhat isolated lives, unlike those who live in the regular 9:00 - 5:00 cubicle world. Often our friends are other writers - people who understand what our lives are all about. Over the years I have met hundreds of writers, and become friends with many. One of the truly nice guys out there is W. Bruce Cameron, a writer I am proud to call my friend. Bruce and I both got into this business by being newspaper feature columnists.

Bruce shot into the public eye as a result of a column, which later became the title piece of a book called Eight Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter. It led to a television show of the same name with the late John Ritter playing Cameron.

Bruce has a new book - A Dog's Purpose. He sent my dog Tara a copy of the book and made a $65.00 donation to her favorite charity, The Farley Foundation named for (another dear friend in the business), Lynn Johnston's dog character in her comic strip For Better or Worse). It was her prize for being named Dog of the Week in the Dog's Purpose website last April.

I let the book sit on my end table for a few days, planning to read it on the plane tomorrow when I fly to Toronto. The other night I decided it wouldn't hurt if I read the first few pages. Needless to say, I now do not have a book to read on my flight to Toronto.

Bruce is truly a gifted writer, turning phrases with ease, and filling his pages with both humor and pathos. On some pages laughter came fast and out loud. On others I was left feeling deeply saddened.

Anyone who has ever loved a dog and been loved by a dog needs to read this book. I won't spoil it for you and tell you what is, or how the dog in the book came to understand his purpose. It's a journey through 300 pages that you need to take on your own. I will tell you that at several points in the book, I stopped and said to my wife, "Damn! Bruce is one hell of a writer!"

And best of all, he is my friend.