Strays
Subtitle: a lost cat, a homeless man, and their journey across America
By: Britt Collins; with a foreword by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Contributors: Masson, J. Moussaieff (Jeffrey Moussaieff), 1941- writer of foreword
Edition: Large print edition.
Series: Thorndike Press large print popular and narrative nonfiction; Thorndike Press large print popular and narrative nonfiction
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 389
ISBN-13: 9781432841379
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Travel; Cats; Pet loss; Homeless men; Human-animal relationships
Description: Homeless, alcoholic, and depressed, Michael King lives in a UPS loading bay on the wrong side of the tracks in Portland, Oregon. One rainy night, he stumbles upon a hurt, starving, scruffy cat and takes her in. Nursing her back to health, he names her Tabor and she becomes a bit of a celebrity in southeast Portland. When winter comes, they travel from Oregon to the beaches of California to the high plains of Montana, surviving blizzards and bears, angry steers, and rainstorms. Along the way, people are drawn to the spirited, beautiful cat and moved to help Michael, who cuts a striking figure with Tabor riding high on his backpack or walking on a leash. Tabor comforts Michael when he's down, giving Michael someone to love and care for, and inspiring him to get sober and to come to terms with his past family traumas and grief over the death of his life partner. As they make their way across the West Coast, the pair become inseparable, healing the scars of each other's troubled pasts. But when Michael takes Tabor to a veterinarian in Montana, he discovers that Tabor has an identification chip and an owner in Portland who has never given up hope of finding his beloved cat, Michael makes the difficult choice to return to Portland and reunite Tabor with her owner. Now Michael must create a new purpose in his life after Tabor.
Table of contents: title: Portland, Oregon: Round midnight; title: Stray cat blues; title: Gimme shelter; title: Scary monsters and super creeps; title: Born to run; title: On the road again; title: Oregon to California: Riders on the storm; title: Backwoods Oregon: Memory Motel; title: Baby please come home; title: Anyway, anyhow, anywhere; title: California: Ride into the Sun; title: King City: Sweetheart of the rodeo; title: Bad moon rising; title: Ventura, California: Good vibrations; title: The stars are out tonight; title: Yosemite: Walk on the wild wide; title: Big sky country: Devils & dust; title: Black magic woman; title: Dillon, Montana: Holy cow; title: Portland: A summer storm and full moon; title: Helena, Montana: Mysteries of a feline heart; title: Astral weeks; title: The most beautiful girl; title: The cat was a rainbow in a dark world; title: The long and winding road; title: Portland again: Sweet emotion; title: Seven steps to heaven.