Hello Friends,
Nellie and I were in the New York Times last week! A thoughtful and talented journalist named Caroline Dworin read about Burning Down the House in The Faster Times, and then contacted me for an interview. We talked for two hours, and Caroline did a great job of capturing my thoughts and putting them together in a lovely article. You can find it here.
The Times sent a kind and patient photographer, Jamie Schwaberow, to do the photo shoot, and he was amazed at how Nellie sat still for pictures for over two hours. “I’ve never seen a dog just sit and pose like that,” he said. Princess Nellie, unlike most dogs, loves the camera, which cracks me up. Mexican Street Dog turned Diva – who’d a thunk it?
I was also interviewed for a piece about the fire on NPR, which you can find here, and Nellie and I are in the Winter edition of Boulder Magazine, in an article called, “Trial by Fire.”
As a friend said to me the other day, “Andi, I think your fifteen minutes of fame is becoming more like an hour. When do you go on Oprah?” I laughed and said, “You know, I think Oprah would just love Nellie!” Oprah loves cocker spaniels and shelter dogs, so Nellie is a shoo-in. I wonder if she could sit still on that couch while she’s interviewed. I can just see it now…
Oprah: So, Princess Nellie, in your honest opinion, salmon treats or chicken?
Nellie: Definitely salmon, Oprah. Those essential fatty acids are so important…
Sigh. Let’s hope all of this attention doesn’t go to her little furry head.
Thanks so much for reading, and for all your love and support.
Take good care,
Andi and Nellie
Nellie photo by Kristin Gerlach
I think it’s great your story is reaching more people. Seeing how you are living through this is reassuring–we can meet our circumstances with our best selves. Better yet, Princess Nellie definitely deserves all this fame. She was obviously born for it! Mexican Street Dog? Now you gotta tell us that story!
Who can blame Princess Nellie for loving the camera? It certainly loves her.
Ah…so Nellie is trilingual! (Canine, English, Spanish). She could do the Spanish talk shows too then!
Si! She is indeed. Nellie was a street dog in Monterrey, Mexico, who was rounded up to be euthanized. The Mexican vet who was supposed to put her down instead fell in love with her, took her home, and contacted Saving Animals Across Borders in Houston. They were partnering with the Humane Society of Boulder at the time, and together, they rescued Nellie. A volunteer drove six hours to get Nellie ready for her flight to Houston, and Continental Airlines flew her for free from Juarez to Houston to Denver. Then Boulder Humane Society volunteers picked her up and got her ready for adoption. Then she was adopted and returned (she didn’t like her co-dog) and the very next day I saw her little face in the shelter and said, “My Dog!” And the rest is history.
The name on her original paperwork from Mexico was “Negra,” or “Blackie.” The shelter folks renamed her Nellie, and her agility trainer, Denise Coyne, named her Princess Nellie because of her (ahem) attitude. I think the moniker fits her perfectly.
I also like to call her my Perrita Bonita Negrita Angelita (roughly translated as “Little Black Cute Angel Dog.”) It really does sound better in Spanish…
Love the story of how Nellie came home to you! Thanks for sharing!
hi andy. of course princess nellie is a poser!!!! hee hee. she knows a good thing when she sees it. hope all is well. soup production waaaaaaaaaaay down. its pretty much cheese and crackers over here.