Vineyard Dogs

About the Book

Note to Readers: This is a story about a real place and real dogs. It takes place in Vineyard Grove, a community of 19 cottages or “tents” in Irvington, Virginia. The year is 2006. These cottages are modeled after the tents in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, where a community of summer residents have gathered for many generations. Vineyard Grove is located in White Fences Vineyard (www.whitefencesvineyard.com), down the road from a really cool B&B called Hope and Glory Inn (www.hopeandglory.com) and the once famous Trick Dog Café. This tale is written to entertain “children” of all ages and stages . As an adult, you will be humored by the K9 characters, their choice of music and their throwbacks to the good old days. How else could you possibly explain the meaning of “I Heard It through the Grapevine” or English Leather to younger ears? As a not-so-old reader, you will be entertained by the characters and their envious adventures. A portion of the proceeds of Vineyard Dogs will be donated to The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind and Therapy Dogs International, Inc (TDI).

About the Author

About Stuart Carr: The author’s first pet, a large boxer named Dusty, was responsible for Stuart’s deep affection for dogs. As the story goes, Dusty would wander the streets of Kinston, North Carolina while Stuart and her sister Betsy were preparing for toddler time baths. In the absence of her father, who traveled the tobacco markets, her mother would call a taxi to retrieve Dusty from across the tracks and return him home. From those days on, Stuart appreciated the fine character traits and unique personalities (or “caninealities”) of her four legged friends. Although dogs have remained her favored members of the animal kingdom, she has been known to rescue birds, squirrels, chipmunks and even kittens, hiding them from her parents under the bed or in the bathtub. At the ripe age of six, she discovered that chipmunks can in fact eat through shoe boxes and escape into the vast wilds of the formal living room. Dusty was followed by a series of dachshunds, named Fritz. One was nicknamed “junior” just to be clever. It was during these Richmond years that Stuart invited neighboring dogs in for afternoon tea, much to the surprise and horror of her mother. After tea parties were banned from the Virginia home in roughly 1955, Stuart began to paint her animal friends—both literally and on canvas. (What dog doesn’t secretly want polka dots or stripes?) It wasn’t until her early twenties that she branched out to paint other animals- pigs, hippos, sheep, lions, rhinos, tigers, warthogs, giraffes, and occasionally even a commissioned cat. Living in New York City, followed by the trek to Connecticut, Stuart met a more sophisticated breed of dog-- the owner-- who was willing to pay more for a portrait of their esteemed pet than what was originally paid for FiFi or Fido. Thus, the pet portrait business of Whiskers and Tails was launched on Greenwich Avenue in the early nineties at a store appropriately called Dog Days. To no surprise, Stuart demanded to personally interview every portrait candidate and has remained very picky about painting dogs with an attitude or worse- no identifiable personality traits. The glory days of frivolous spending were short lived and the dog-eat-dog world of corporate America was howling. Today, Stuart is a marketing executive, working for a big global consulting firm in New York City. On occasion, she will let down her corporate guard and inquire about the dog adventures of her co-workers and clients. So how did Vineyard Dogs emerge? Well, in the spring of 2006, Stuart took a week of vacation in search of some misplaced roots. She stumbled across Vineyard Grove and the tents immediately struck her fancy. The rest was history. She continues to make her permanent home in Connecticut where she lives with Chessie, her Springador (that’s another story), her buddy Chip and occasional four legged visitors named Malibu and Bailey the beagle. Doesn’t everyone have grown children with dogs, making us proud dog grandparents? Please share your dog stories with Stuart via email at stuart5100@aol.com or mail to 25 Crockett Street, Rowayton, CT 06853. Rumor has it Stuart is working on a website and of course a bark room for dogs- so stay tuned.