The Philosopher's Cat

  On January 1, 1995 Gary Larsen retires from writing a daily cartoon strip--"The Far Side." Not exclusively a cat cartoonist, he of course wrote some cat cartoons,like the one where a dog writes on the door to the washer, "fud here" hoping the cat will jump in. This mug worthy joke is about as genial as Larsen gets--in his cartoons.

Frances Steloff was born on December 31, 1887. Ms. Steloff founded and ran the Gotham Book Mart, a historic bookstore in New York City. It was a haven for writers and readers. Anais Nin, for instance, mailed her library to Frances for safekeeping, when she had to flee Paris. In the 1960s Frances found a buyer for her bookstore. The contract let Steloff keep an apartment upstairs, where she and her cats continued to live. In her will she provided not just for her cats, but left money for strays as well. Frances Steloff is a nice figure to end the year on, since this blog is not just about cats, but books too.

Angela Burdett-Coutts died on December 30, 1906. She was one of the wealthiest women in England during the 19th century---she inherited massive fortunes from both her parents. With that much money she could do what she wanted, and that was not to marry the myriad men who pursued her. Until that is, she was in her sixties, and then she married her librarian, much younger than she. And cats--yes--she donated gold medals to the winners of the first cat shows in the world.

December 29, 1895 is the birth date of Busby Berkeley. Berkeley was a choreographer whose inventive camera angles, among other innovations, secured him a chapter in cinema history. You have seen his chorus lines and splashy dance numbers in movies from the 30s and 40s. I am still trying to figure out though, exactly how he managed the cats in "Ziegfield Girls," a 1941 movie. At a climactic point all the beautiful dancers emerge sitting from giant clamshells. They are all holding white cats. Brave, creative, choreographer Bushby Berkely. I gotta assume the cats were declawed, maybe drugged. But I don't know that. How did he choreograph those cats?

Dame Maggie Smith, the British actress whose voice was described as "prunes-and-prisms," plays a character, Professor Minerva McGonagall, who can transform into a cat, in the Harry Potter movies. Maggie Smith's birth date is December 28, 1934.

December 27, 1821 (or 26, sources vary) is the birth date of Lady Wilde. She collected and published Irish folk tales, and "The Demon Cat" recounts the story of a fish stealing cat, a cat that was huge and black, and attacked any one who came between it and the fish. Except for the size (and who knows how big "huge" is) this cat's behavior seems pretty feline, except that it dissolved when holy water was sprinkled on it. So we know it was a demon. Lady Wilde was Oscar's mom.

  Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was born on December 26, 1194. His home base was his kingdom of Sicily and there he had a royal collection of animals, including big cats This was a royal tradition. Hatshepsut, millenia before, kept wild animals in captivity. The Roman emperors had cheetahs, defanged, and declawed, covered in gold dust, kept in their palaces. Frederick was just acting like a king.

Using the old style notation, the birthday of Isaac Newton falls on December 25, 1642. You may be surprised to find out that the inventor of the cat door also discovered gravity. And Einstein did not need to refine the cat door calculations 250 years later.

  Cleveland Amory ( September 2, 1917 to October 14, 1998)  was a self-described curmudgeon. This New York writer was already a staunch supporter of animal protection when, on Christmas Eve, in 1978, he found a stray white kitten on the city street; "Polar Bear" was what he named the cat. Amory went on to write three profitable books about their life together.

Peggy Guggenheim, art collector and patron, died on December 23, 1979. Her interest in canines is well known, but her cats have received little publicity. So it is interesting to recall the vignette of her departure from Paris, safely in advance of the German troops. She is described as driving her maid and Persian cats away from Paris, in the direction of the Megeve.

December 22, 1957, is the original air date of a particular episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents": "Miss Paisley's Cat." This is standard Hitchcock suspense-- an old lady confesses she might have killed a neighbor, but no one believes her, though she has a motive--the neighbor had killed her cat named 'Stanley.' She just can't remember.

Alfred Payson Terhune (born December 21, 1872) is famous (or used to be) as the author of dog books, collie dog books, wonderful collie dog books. Before the author of "Gray Dawn", "Lad, A Dog", and a pack of other books, became famous as a dog book author, Terhune published in 1916, a historian's account of certain scandalous women, and it is from his "Superwomen", that I quote this cat scene. (You need to remember first that Nelson was a famous military hero, and had philandered a bit before his triumphant return to England.) "I once had a collie pup who had never chanced to be in close quarters with a cat. I was privileged to see him when he made his first gleefully fearless attack on one, ignorant of the potential anguish tucked away behind a feline's velvety paws. Somehow--with no disrespect to the great man--I always think of that poor, about-to-be-disillusioned puppy, when I try to visualize the picture of Nelson's homecoming."

December 20, 1996, is the date on which Carl Sagan died. In his most famous book to popularize science, Cosmos (1980), Sagan has recourse to a feline metaphor to explain black holes:  "Now the cosmic Cheshire cat has vanished; only its gravitational grin remains. When the gravity is sufficiently high, nothing, not even light, can get out. ..."

A column named "Believe It or Not," appeared for the first time, in the New York Globe, on December 19, 1918. Robert Ripley, the author, always swore his facts were checked for accuracy, even this item from a later date which typifies the appeal of his column, and I paraphrase: In Akola India, cats are held in such high regard that if a cat is accidentally killed, the person responsible must supply a replacement, a cat of solid gold, which statue is then ritually thrown into the sea.

Francis Thompson was born on December 18, 1859. He sent his poems to Wilfrid and Alice Meynell and these English editors took him up and got him published. Thompson may have summarized best of anyone the essence of a cat, with these words: "You look for sympathy from Nature--Yes,the sympathy of a cat, sitting by the fire and blinking at you. What, indeed, does she want with a heart or brain. She knows that she is beautiful, and she is content with this knowledge."

John Greenleaf Whittier  (December 17, 1807 to September 7, 1892) has many claims to fame including his honoring of his cat.  The sweetness of this American quaker, abolitionist, poet, is apparent in this elegy for his cat named, amusingly (when you consider feline habits), Bathsheba: To whom none ever said scat, No worthier cat Ever sat on a mat or caught a rat: Requies-cat.

December 16, 1899 is the birth date of the playwright of sophistication, Noel Coward. Regarding cats he had this advice: "You always ought to have tom cats arranged, you know it makes 'em more companionable."

  Although Arthur Machen died (December 15) in 1947, he is a transitional figure from Victorian supernatural fiction (which adjective apparently means relating to magic and ghost stuff) to the modern examples of this genre. In fact Machen is a good model for Stephen King in his ability to build the spooky from strands of the ordinary. His 1895 novel, The Three Imposters is a good example. Herein we meet a thoughtful fellow who notes that the foulness of witches has given way to a "diabalerie of old women and broomsticks and a comic cat with outstretched tail." Well you can take it from there. Machen himself was a cat keeper--he eulogized his black cat, as having 'served with distinction for 16 years the house of Machen.

  Owen Barfield died on December 14, 1997. Photographs of this obscure philosopher show a sweet man. During the century he lived, his friendships are the first thing readers would recall--he was one of the inner circle of Tolkien's Oxford buddies--a circle that included C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. Apparently he was influential on Lewis, as this anecdote suggests: hearing Lewis refer to philosophizing as a profession, Barfield corrected Lewis, saying "Philosophy is a 'way.'" Barfield was not a fiction writer but he did write a novel: English People, and fortunately for cat almanacists, there is a cat in the novel. A cat along with fictive Rudolph Steiner, Freud, and Jung. The cat, named Merlin, gets lost, and drama surrounds the question of whether the cat has been stolen by magicians.   Just in case you wondered what people were thinking about between the 20th century wars.

  Theophile Steinlen is renowned as a painter of cats, among other things, and though born in Lausanne, he adopted Montmartre as his home. Thus his prints give us a sense of fin de siecle cats in Paris. One of his early commissions was an advertising print for "Le Chat Noir", a bistro frequented by artists. Of course he did other subjects, and in fact used a pseudonym for some pictures which portrayed the ills of society. But he often managed to work a cat into the scene, regardless of the subject. Steinlen who died December 23, 1923, left us pictures of cats who were centered, chic, and rangy

Anna Seward, the 18th century poet, and acquaintance of Dr. Johnson, is also a precursor of the Victorian animal protection movement. Her sensitivity to cats can be seen in her poem, "The Dying Cat's Soliloquy." Herein, the cat, Selima, imagines awaiting for her a paradise with fat mice moving slowly, wingless birds hopping haplessly, and gardens planted with lots of catnip. Selima realizes though that her human mistress will not be there, since this is a heaven for cats. This may be the first such imaginative rendering of a cat heaven; certainly it is not the last. The real author of this picture (Anna, not Selima) was born on December 12, 1747.

Marie Windsor was an actress in scores of movies. Born in 1919 (December 11) she became Miss Utah during the depression era. She was one of many pretty, bosomy brunettes we have forgotten, except, she starred in 'Cat Women of the Moon'. Which is not to say this 50's movie, is not typical of the quality of her films.

December 10th is the birthday of Mary Norton, English author of the children's classic:"The Borrowers" (1952). The borrowers are a race of tiny people (far smaller than fairies) who lives among the humans but invisibly. If the Borrowers are seen, they have to move, but until then they survive on the scraps and reuse of objects, like thimbles for chairs. Typically the Borrowers live well, unless spotted by cats,who are under no illusions about the reality of these small folk.

  Natsume Soseki was a Japanese writer; he died on December 9, 1916. The quality of his novels lead to him being ranked among the greatest writers. His face was on a yen note until 2004. This regard is earned and he should have a larger English audience. Even through a translation, the imaginative effort to understand what the world looks like from a foreign viewpoint is apparent in his 1905 story, "I Am A Cat." This eponymous feline is dissuaded from clawing books and so has ...a "new sport" which is to: "hunt praying mantises. Mantis hunting is not as strenuous as rat hunting, but neither does it involve so many hazards...After seeing one, I rush it as fast as the wind. The mantis, sensing danger, will raise its head...Mantises are rather bold...[Their] wings are only there for ornamental purposes...like the study of French and German for humans...Having wings sounds wonderful but actually those of the mantis only drag the owner along the ground as it walks.

James Thurber is described as o ne of the funniest American writers. December 8th, 1894 is the day he was born. On the subject of cats Thurber said: "I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance — a sharp, vindictive glance." Okay, not his best joke, but it gets him into our cat almanac.

Robert Graves was a historian, poet, and student of mythology. He combined these latter interests in his poem "Cat-Goddesses". Here are some charming lines he wrote: A perverse habit of cat-goddesses... ...is to yield themselves In verisimilar love-ecstasies To tatter-eared and slinking alley-toms No less below the common run of cats Than they above it... ...Not the least abashed By such gross-headed, rabbit-colored litters As soon they shall be happy to desert. December 7, 1985 is the day Graves died. The full text of "Cat-Goddesses" is  here

Evelyn Underhill is remembered as the writer of books discussing mysticism. She was born on December 6, 1875. Her 1911 book, "Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness," is still considered a standard on the subject. She was a prolific author and wrote poetry, and novels also. What is less recalled is her affection for cats. She had a preference for tomcats, and all the ones I have found mention of bore English masculine names, for example she had cats named, Richard, Phillip and David. These are all names Evelyn Underhill gave to cats.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the biographical series, Little House on the Prairie, had a daughter born on December 5, 1886. Her daughter was Rose Wilder, later Rose Wilder Lane. Lane was a writer, possibly a writer earlier than her mom became one. One thing Rose Wilder Lane wrote was travel articles, like the one in Travel World, published in 1923, where she described a friend who loved lilacs, 'like a cat loves catnip."

  Cardinal Richelieu ( September 9, 1585 to December 4, 1642)  is associated with cats. This powerful French minister during the reign of Louis XIV,  is said to have enjoyed the sight of kittens, and kept them around to combat a melancholic streak the Cardinal possessed. There are several stories. One reads that Richelieu provided for his cats in his will. Which seems to contradict the character that is also said to have disposed of his kittens when they reached the age of three months. They would be discarded and fresh kittens obtained to entertain one of the most powerful men in the world.  (Recall that in this pre-vehicular era, cats had different options, and while it sounds dreadful that someone would discard cats, it was in a different setting.   No doubt the life of a stray cat was difficult but not for the same reasons we consider today. And, cats were valuable in that they controlled vermin. Nowadays we have poorly controlled and wastefully applied pesticides to do what cats u

 Ludvig Holberg (December 3, 1684 to January 28, 1754) ) was a Scandinavian writer, an author of comedies, and an historian. He also wrote books on the law, and his comedies reflect this background. We read that he,was a deist and "critical of the notion of original sin, instead subscribing to the notion of man's free will."  One of his play is  Hexerie eller Blind Allarm , (1723) (translated as  Witchcraft or False Alert ) is a comedy which gets laughter at the thought of pacts with the devil and magical arts. Our excerpt though comes from  Jeppe paa Bjerget eller den forvandlede Bonde , (1722)  (translated as  Jeppe of the Hill) . Jeppe is a peasant who is tricked into believing he is nobility, and later, even, a poisoned thief. The characterizations of all the players in this comedy are vivid and one assumes this is to the credit of the author, not the translator. In our excerpt Jeppe is in court for reasons which are not clear to him; he winds up believing he is poiso

 "Tooth and Claw" is a short story by T. C. Boyle (born on December 2, 1948) and features a guy caring for an feral cat. It is one story in a volume by the same name, published in 2005. Boyle's sixth book of short stories came after his acclaimed novel "The Inner Circle" (2004) based on Alfred Kinsey. Boyle is an amazing talent, whose attitude to subject matter makes most writers seem to pander in comparison. This New York native has been an English professor at USC for many years. He has received multiple awards, but not enough.