reviewed by Bob Walch

Following Atticus

(William Morrow, 288 pages, $25.99), by Tom Ryan

December 2011—It seems there’s a vast audience for stories about how pets interact with their owners, which explains why this book has been so successful.

Newspaperman Tom Ryan was the owner and publisher of a small newspaper in Newburyport, Mass. Not really “into” pets, Ryan found himself somewhat reluctantly agreeing to care for Max, an older miniature schnauzer that needed a home.

Once Max moved into Ryan’s house, it didn’t take long before the two were inseparable. Unfortunately, the relationship didn’t last long for Max began having seizures and soon had to be put down.

But, as Ryan explains, Max — or Maxwell Garrison Gills, to use his full name — had opened a door, and Atticus Maxwell Finch came pounding through it. Atticus was the journalist’s second miniature schnauzer, which the writer raised from puppyhood.

This book is the story of their remarkable bond, and of the feat they accomplished together over a number of years. To pay tribute to a friend who had died of cancer, Ryan and Atticus decided to begin an odyssey that would take them to the tops of 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot peaks.

This story chronicles their numerous mountain ascents, and also shows the transformation in Ryan’s life that his new companion brought about. Thanks to Atticus, the author’s private and family relationships appreciably improved.

At the end of the book Ryan writes: “In telling the story of my friend Atticus M. Finch, I often think of that wonderful line from Antoine de Saint-Exupery: ‘Perhaps love is the process of gently leading you back to yourself.’ For that’s what that little dog did. He led, I followed, and in the end I became the man I dreamed of being when I was a little boy.”