There are few bonds stronger than that between humans and their pets. From tiny furballs that squirm in the palms of our hands to the slithering kinds, animals hold a special place in our hearts.
Weekend Edition host Scott Simon knows the importance of these bonds more than most. He wrote about them, and the animals he has come to love in his new book Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I’ve Known. Simon recently stopped by WAMU’s studios to chat with All Things Considered host Tamika Smith to share stories of some of the pets he’s loved and lost.
Interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Tamika Smith: You’ve shared your love and appreciation for all sorts of animals, and you’ve shared your life story through short vignettes about the relationship you’ve shared with them. Tell us about Leona the cat.
Scott Simon: Awww.
Tamika Smith: How did you meet her?
SS: It was a Saturday after the show and this little orange kitten walked up to me. There was a paper up on a tree saying that she had escaped. There were these three interns from the British Embassy who had left to go back to Great Britain. Then when an Embassy person, who we later became friendly with, finally called me, she said, “You know Scott, I think there’s a reason why this little cat walked up to you. I think you should rear her. But, you must promise to rear her as a British cat.” I take that very seriously. We put pictures of David Beckham over her food bowl.
Tamika Smith: What about her tea?
Scott Simon: I must say I wasn’t always observant at four o’clock tea, but I said, come on, Leona, you’ve got to make some concessions.
Tamika Smith: Now, you also talked about the relationship between your daughters and Leona. Can you talk about how that connection evolved?
Scott Simon: Our daughters, as many people know, were both from orphanages in China. No matter how loving the women we met who care for children, they can’t let them crawl around and explore the world. They’re just, God bless, too many. So when a baby is put into your arms, they have never crawled. And we have a picture that we still keep of Leona and her oldest daughter Elise with their heads pushed together, which I call the sweetest photo in the world because they seem to be sharing some spark that passes between them. And Leona seemed to be showing her how to crawl because Leona crawled, right? Absolutely still makes my heart overflow to think about it.
Tamika Smith: When I was reading your book, it made me think about my childhood dog, Browny, who had passed away. What do you think that they teach us about loss?
Scott Simon: I think they remind us it’s inevitable. We went through five betta fish with our oldest daughter Elise. I refused to at first tell Elise that betta fish had left us. We called all of them Salman Fishdie. I would bring Salman Fishdie, the latest, in my pocket to work and would take care of the disposal, if you please. There’s a wonderful guy named Gary Smith, who worked at the desk then. I told Gary what had happened, and I said, I guess I’ve got to, I don’t know, flush Salman away. And he said, “You can’t do that, Scott. Every animal has a soul.” Gary Smith signed himself out, and the two of us buried Salman Fishdie in what was then NPR’s front yard.
So I came home, we sat Elise down on the couch. We said, well, Sammy, is you know, you’ve probably heard the word, dead. She said, “That means we can get another one!”As I say in the book, animals teach us lessons all the time. They’re just not necessarily the ones we expect.
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Published Date : 2026-05-07 20:02:00
Source : wamu.org
