(Photo by Russ Mitchell) USA Today columnist Craig Wilson talks with author and former librarian Vicki Myron over pie Thursday afternoon in Spencer. Wilson's editors think Myron's book "Dewey" may signal a new trend -- cat memoirs -- in the publishing industry.

Daily Reporter Staff

Self-professed dog person Craig Wilson probably didn't believe the assignment when he heard it the first time, either.

"One of the editors came over to my desk yesterday or the day before," Wilson said. "He'd gone to the meeting -- they have a monthly meeting that tells everybody all the cover stories for the month ahead -- so he said: 'So, you're going to Iowa to do a story on a cat that's dead.' I said 'yes, I kind of wish the cat was still alive.'"

Wilson is a columnist and book section contributor on the staff of USA Today. "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" is what drew Wilson from his Washington, D.C., office to Spencer on Thursday.

The book, by longtime Spencer Librarian Vicki Myron and coauthor Bret Witter, may mark a shift in the pet-memoir market.

"The book editor (at USA Today) is in New York and she's very plugged into the publishing world. She's also a very big cat person," Wilson said. "And she also knows that I'm a dog person -- so I think there's something going on here with this assignment. She thought maybe it would be a good idea if I spent a little time with a cat person."

Myron certainly qualifies. Spencer residents are pretty familiar with the story of Dewey and his "mommy," which began Jan. 18, 1988:

The head librarian and her staff heard a noise coming from the library's overnight book drop a frosty Monday morning. Inside was a small, kitten shivering on the pile of returned books. The staff drew the stray a bath in an effort to get the kitten's body temperature up.

Dewey purred all the way through his bath and wanted to be held at every opportunity. The staff became attached and Myron navigated the logistics of local government for permission to take on a pet. Dewey Readmore Books was a companion for the retirees who found a comfortable chair in the periodicals section. Young readers who came to the library to see Dewey often left with a book or two in their backpack.

Over the years, documentaries, newspapers and magazines retold the story of Dewey's discovery. The kitten mascot, an afterthought on a cold January day, had become the library's ambassador and a bit of a tourist attraction.

It made the decision on Nov. 26, 2006, all that much more difficult. Dewey was 19-years-old. Patrons received special instructions about how to pet their increasingly-fragile friend. Ultimately veterinarians ran out of ways to keep him comfortable. Myron gave Dewey a life, now it was time to give him peace.

"It's just a lovely story about a library cat and you can't make that up," Wilson said.

Book publishers seemed to agree. Grand Central Publishing secured the rights to publish Myron's story for $1.25 million. The companies are looking for the cat version of "Marley & Me," the story of a misbehaving dog by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Grogan. "Marley" became a New York Times bestseller and was part of a wave of books that paid tribute to members of the canine population.

"Dog books are big," Wilson said. "Oprah always has dog books. 'Marley & Me,' written by the columnist in the Philadelphia Inquirer is huge. Now, there's buzz in the publishing world that 'Dewey' is going to be huge. They think that it's kind of interesting that, if it does make it big and goes really big that it's a cat book instead of a dog book."

Myron is expecting a camera crew from CBS Sunday Morning to film a similar story during the week of the Clay County Fair. The national and international attention for Dewey is bigger than she had imagined. Publishing rights for "Dewey" have been sold in 22 countries.

"I've also been contacted by people in Britain, Japan and Germany, so the phenomenon is growing," she said.

"Dewey" is set for release at bookstores on Sept. 26. Wilson expects his piece to run in a mid-September edition of USA Today .

"This is a little bit of a luxury for me," Wilson said. "I usually don't have this much time ahead, but I looked at her schedule and my schedule and just said 'let's do this in the middle of August."

Wilson began his career at a small newspaper in Saratoga Springs, in upstate New York. He was the feature editor there when Gannett borrowed staff writers to launch USA Today.

"Nobody knew whether USA Today was going to work -- whether it was going to fly or die," he said.

The Gannett Corporation took reporters from each of its 90 newspapers and sent them to Washington, D.C. "on loan" for three months.

"They hired me, so I never went back," Wilson said.

Along with industry news, Wilson also does book reviews for the national newspaper.

When he returned to Washington, Wilson planned on doing a series of phone interviews with cat book authors for a sidebar. The key question is: Can the dog-book phenomenon translate to other pets?

"We'll be sitting there with Vicki in October and November and seeing what happens," Wilson said.