Theo, Marblehead's Salty Dog.
"A dog is better than I am, for he has love and does not judge."
-- Abba Xanthios
(an Orthodox monk living in the 4th century Egyptian desert)
Theo grew up on a farm in Virginia, and was a pup briefly in downtown Washington, D.C. where he enjoyed racing around the Old Congressional Cemetery (peeing on Congressmen's graves was oddly satisfying), long runs around the Mall, the Tidal Basin and Cherry Blossoms in the Spring. But now that he has married and settled with his wife Isis (also originally from Virginia) here in a Marblehead, he can't imagine living anywhere else -- and in fact he's going to raise his pups here.
While he may happen to be a canid, he's definitely a person.
Theo takes his position as Chair of the Marblehead Salt Co. very seriously and is dedicated to customer outreach.
Theo has always admired Douglas Adams and wanted to do a little research .... His favorite novelist is a toss up between Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and Kurt Vonnegut. He also likes Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost and W.E.B. Yeats. He doesn't care for Emily Dickinson and Virginia Wolf (no offense, it is what it is). Right now he's reading a book of sermons by St. Gregory Palamas, a Greek mystic who writes that God's essence is distinct from God's energies, or manifestations in the world, by which we experience the Divine. He's contrasting it with Bob Frost's theories of American redemption and John Micklethwait's ideas of American exceptionalism.
While he's not political, Theo is very understanding, and still waits at the door when I return from trips. Theo is very active in canid rights politics and is working hard to develop a program in Marblehead and Boston's North Shore to make sure pups of all breeds have the educational resources they need to become productive members of their communities -- both human and canid.