Bookmarks: Local authors
Lisa Duffy-Korpics of Walden,
Yanique Beliard Michel of Fishkill
Title: "Tales From a Dog Catcher"
Author: Lisa Duffy-Korpics of Walden
Author background: Duffy-Korpics is married to Jason Korpics and they have a son, Charles, 15, and daughter, Emily, 12. Formerly a dogcatcher for the City of Peekskill while attending college for four years, she is now a government and psychology teacher at Valley Central High School in Montgomery and a writer. Her stories have appeared in eight "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books.
Publisher: The Lyons Press of Guilford, Conn., an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press
Genre: Narrative nonfiction; some bookstores and Web sites place the book under "Memoirs."
Summary: The book is about Duffy-Korpics' adventures as a dogcatcher in Annesville (which is the original name of Peekskill, hence the Annesville [traffic] Circle). Unlike today where animal control falls under the town and/or village, Duffy-Korpics worked with the Police Department as a peace officer. She was in charge of a four-square-mile area, which actually gave her lots of material to write about. The names of the humans have been changed as well as some of the animals'. Duffy-Korpics said oddly enough she remembered all the names of the animals she tried to help. The humans were tougher to recall. "I think it was less about the animals and more about dealing with the people."
Best chapter and quote from the book: Duffy-Korpics is a softie when it comes to animals. In the chapter "Odd Blessings," she writes about frequently listing the animal's age as younger than they actually were so that they would be more adoptable. Also, if the adopters were poor, she didn't ask them for the $10 rescue fee. She would list the animal as a "stray" on all paperwork. As she says in the book, "too often I had found that this fee — or inability to pay it — got in the way of doing the right thing."
Maureen was a receptionist at the local shelter, processing all of the animals' paperwork and fees. Duffy-Korpics describes Maureen as "about 5 feet, 90 pounds of pure steel." Maureen always gave the author a hard time, saying things such as "ah, of course another 3- to 5-year-old terrier mix, who — at such a young age, mind you — already has cataracts and gray hair. It must be that rare accelerated aging disease again. Your city should really test its water ..."
However, Maureen never changed the paperwork and Duffy-Korpics observes, "Inside her tiny body was a great big heart; it may have been surrounded by several layers of igneous rock, but I knew it was there nonetheless."
First-time literary advice: "I think the mistake people make is they just send out the manuscript without sending it to a specific person and getting the spelling of that name right. The Writer's Market will tell you everything you need to know. It's a lot of work, but I try to enjoy that side of it. If you want to do it the traditional way, you have to have a (tough) skin and know that it's not personal (when they reject you)."
Availability: This book is available globally in English. Online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com and target.com. It's also available in major bookstores, department stores and libraries.
Price: $16.95
Upcoming work: Duffy-Korpics is finishing more chapters for a sequel about her dogcatcher days. She would also like to write a young-adult book.
Upcoming events: Duffy-Korpics will be a guest on WTBQ's "Shannon's Corner" at 12:05 p.m. Aug. 20.
Visit her blog at www.talesfromadogcatcher.blogspot.com.
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