Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan...a love story - Paperback

by Lloyd Burlingame (Author)

To their owners all Seeing Eye dogs are miracle workers. However, there are the rare few, like the two exceptionally stalwart heroes of this book, who triumph brilliantly over the obstacles of a huge city. They are the canine equivalents of the intrepid "Navy Seals." Undaunted, they meet the challenges of the "Big Apple." Dodging cars, crowds, and one emergency situation after another, they guide their visually challenged partners safely to any destination. Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan: A Love Story is a funny, fast-paced account of the true adventures -- and misadventures -- of one blind New Yorker and his two amazing Seeing Eye dogs. Readers of all ages will be fascinated by these pooches who lavish the gifts of independence, dignity, and freedom on their human partners. Take in city life with them: Be there in Carnegie Hall when Hickory woofs his unscheduled duet with the world-famous diva Renee Fleming. Fly with Kemp, his intrepid successor, to Austria where he out-charms the Viennese. As his dogs tell their stories, author Lloyd Burlingame takes you behind the scenes at The Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Jersey, where Hickory and Kemp were bred and trained. Back in New York, the author resumes his active lifestyle and passionate attendance at opera and Broadway, as both dogs soon become regulars in the show business milieu. Burlingame's career as a prominent stage designer led to Chairing the Design Department of NYU's famed Tisch School of the Arts. He cheers that his guide dogs have "transformed life from a grainy black-and-white film, into a vivid Technicolor, 3-D spectacular " Excerpt from Kirkus Review: "Part of the intrigue comes from understanding how day-to-day life unfolds for the visually impaired and their helper dogs. Readers also get to learn about the process dogs go through to qualify as Seeing Eye companions. What makes these experiences even more fascinating is that they are told from the perspective of the two dogs. Burlingame plays "scribe" to Kemp and Hickory, who relay their experiences as only dogs can. While the book doesn't hide the difficulties that result from loss of sight, it maintains an overall humorous, hopeful tone, thanks to the boundless cheerfulness of its canine narrators. "