Two Inspirational Tales Win Tito’s Handmade Vodka Best Dog Story Awards
By: David Paul Kirkpatrick
Tags: Creative Writing, Scholarship, Dogs, Writers Life, Inspiration

Two Inspirational Tales Win Tito’s Handmade Vodka Best Dog Story Awards

Patricia Horan, 78, a forty-year veteran of New York and magazine publishing, and Derek Larthey, 38, an actor and substitute teacher in the Pennsylvania public school system, win the top writing scholarships provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Joining other writers in the Caribbean in February, 2020, Horan and Larthey will take advantage of a writing week focused on art, commerce, craft, and community at the Winter Story Summit.

Each season, Story Summit gathers award-winning professionals from across the globe to provide intimate, meaningful and productive relationships with screenwriters and authors in an inspiring, immersive and naturally beautiful environment.

The vision of Tito’s Vodka for Dog People program is to better the lives of pets and their families far and wide. Tito’s Handmade Vodka sponsored both a male and female scholarship to the Winter Story Summit.

“We could not be more delighted with Patricia Horan and Derek Larthey for their wins” says Beth Bellanti Pander, Program Manager, Vodka For Dog People. “We congratulate them and all the applicants who participated.”

Jeff Arch, a mentor at the summit, and the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Sleepless in Seattle says, “I am so excited to work with these two gifted and committed writers.” Arch will be mentoring Horan as well as Larthey. “ Both entries are distinguished by their love for America, and the things that are best about us — and yet they come at it from completely different angles,” says Arch. “ Derek’s story, Rescue Me, is about a returning soldier who brings a dog back from Iraq and how they both find salvation through each other. It’s sincere and touching, and, unfortunately, all too real.

“On the other hand, Patricia’s animated story, Bring Me Your Paws, about a flying dachshund who befriends the Statue of Liberty, is a loving tribute to our strength as a melting pot, and how the pure heart and soul of one little dog can remind us, especially in these conflicted times, who we are as a nation of immigrants and refugees.”

Winner, Patricia Horan, for Bring Me Your Paws/ that’s Patricia’s guinea pig, Muttonchops

A forty-year veteran of New York book and magazine publishing, Patricia Horan is the founding editor of a longstanding Crown/Random House division. There. Horan developed, revised and reissued books and series, creating many perennial bestsellers. Among them are Gray’s Anatomy, the Blooper humor series, the Avenel classics and the Arthur Rackham series of distinguished children’s books.

Patricia was a founding member of the pioneering and widely reviewed Westbeth Feminist Playwrights Collective, where Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman first worked together on the New York stage. The plays and lyrics she wrote for Westbeth have been invited to the archives of the New-York Historical Society.

“I have been editing the work of others through mainstream publishing all these years,” says Horan, “and would like to feature my own original work now.

Patricia Horan is the daughter of the late historian, novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman, James D. Horan.

Winner, Derek Larthey, for Rescue Me

Derek Larthey, a public school teacher and an actor who has appeared in House of Cards as well as other series, is looking forward to the opportunity that the story summit provides for him. “I can learn from some of the best in the business,” Larthey says. “I have a mentor in Jeff Arch who will not be shy about pointing out my mistakes, guiding me to expand my knowledge and hone my craft.”

The Story Summit is conducted once every season and attended by an international group of aspiring writers of all ages. The Summit elevates and engages diverse talent in inspiring locations around the world.

The Winter Story Summit will take place in the Caribbean in February, 2020. The Summer Story Summit will take place on a glacier tour in Alaska. Tito’s Handmade Vodka will also be sponsoring two writing scholarships for the summer event as well. Details for the application process will be announced after the holidays.