Washington Post reviews All My Dogs

Today Yvonne Zipp of The Washington Post reviewed All My Dogs, along with three other books about dogs, in "Four Books About Canine Friends." Here's what she had to say about All My Dogs:

Pushcart Press founder Bill Henderson had the sound idea of chronicling his life through the dogs who shared it, and All My Dogs (Godine, $19.95) handily wins Best in Show. From Trixie, who taught him “to play without ceasing,” to tragic Ellen and Rocky, Henderson honors each one. Sophie, an adopted Labrador, saved his second marriage and watched his daughter grow up. “Opie was a rescue beagle — rescuing not him but rather his elderly owners.” Patient Lulu helped Henderson when he had cancer diagnosed. Accompanied by lovely drawings by Leslie Moore, memoirs like this don’t happen along very often.

Click here to read the whole review.

Praise for "All My Dogs"

Praise keeps pouring in for "All My Dogs: A Life" written by Bill Henderson and illustrated by me. I particularly like the Publishers' Weekly mention of the "famed artist"!

Interspersed with sketches from his childhood and adult forays into romance and publishing, Henderson reveals how much his dogs taught him about enduring tragedy and enjoying the pleasures of life. Few readers will get through this slender volume of heartwarming portraits and vignettes without reaching for the tissue box.
—Booklist

With dry humor and enviable honesty, this gem by Pushcart Press founder Henderson (His Son) tells his life story through 13 dogs—of different sizes, shapes, breeds, and mixes—that he and his family have owned. His first dog, Trixie (a German Spitz mix) shaped his formative years in suburban Philadelphia. After his friend's father kicked out the mutt Duke, a 10-year-old Henderson took him in. Labrador retriever Sophie saved Henderson's relationship with his future wife and witnessed the couple's daughter, Holly, grow up. Today, Franny and Sedgwick keep Henderson company. Henderson candidly discusses the deaths of his dogs, including the unexpectedly intimate depiction of the time he discovered Ellen and Rocky (a beloved Chesapeake Bay retriever and mutt) floating in a residential swimming pool in his upstate New York neighborhood. While making a solid, yet subtle, argument for why dogs remain man's best friend, Henderson also writes of his Christian upbringing and his "spiritual sojourn." The book is greatly enhanced by famed artist Leslie Moore's line drawings, and the typeface is Minion, which just happens to mean "faithful companion."
—Publishers' Weekly

"Just when I thought it would be impossible for a dog memoir to set itself apart from the plethora of similar books on the shelves today, I read All My Dogs, a charming and moving account by Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press. Similar in scope and sensibility to Elizabeth von Arnim's 1936 classic, All the Dogs of My Life, this narrative chronicles the dogs with whom Henderson has shared his life, and the ways they informed it. . . . Henderson's way of telling an economical, well-crafted tale is similar to the manner in which he leads his life: resourcefully and creatively. His dogs have been invaluable companions, and their stories, as well as his own, make for a memorable read."
— Claudia Kawczynska (Editor-in-chief), The Bark Magazine

"It would be a mistake to dismiss All My Dogs by Bill Henderson as just another entry into the already inflated category of canine books, because this little memoir is masterful. . . . What makes All My Dogs extraordinary is Henderson’s skill at weaving together stories about dogs with the trials and tribulations of his personal life; especially moving is the author’s account of his own bout with breast cancer that coincided with his dog Lulu’s cancer diagnosis. Bill Henderson’s writing is simple yet eloquent, at times poetic and poignant. His descriptions of people, events, and scenes range from the humorous to the dramatic. Henderson well knows how to tell a story. He also knows he is lost without dogs. In a chapter entitled “Dogless Years,” Henderson writes of his first, unsuccessful marriage, lamenting, “The idea of children, or dogs, never came up. Our lives were as empty as a bare ruined choir.” Indeed, Henderson is at his best when a dog is by his side. That’s what All My Dogs is really about. Happily, this story reinforces what most dog lovers already believe—that a dog is the best companion a human could ever have."
— ForeWord Magazine

Book Promotion

This just out in the November 11th  East Hampton Star:

A Man and His Dogs

Bill Henderson of Springs, the Pushcart Prize editor, not only has a new “Best of the Small Presses” set to come out shortly, but in addition his autobiography has been accepted for publication by David R. Godine, the small, highly regarded publishing house in Boston. (Mr. Godine notably published the late Andre Dubus’s early books.)

“All My Dogs: A Life” chronicles, well, a life with dogs — 13 of them. It will feature line drawings by Leslie Moore, an artist who lives in Maine, where Mr. Henderson has a house. The publication date is April 5, Mr. Henderson’s 70th birthday.

As Bill says, "We roll!"

Illustrating a Book!

Lulu, Bill’s favorite

I spent much of this past summer illustrating a wonderful book called All My Dogs: A Life. It’s a memoir by Bill Henderson, the founder of Pushcart Press, editor and publisher of the annual Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, now in its 34th year, author of four previous memoirs: His Son (Norton, 1981), Her Father (Faber and Faber, 1995), Tower: Faith, Vertigo and Amateur Construction (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000), and Simple Gifts (Free Press, 2006), recipient of the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle, a friend, and a neighbor.

Here’s Bill’s tower on Christy Hill in  Sedgwick.

He’s also built an octagonal writing studio and

a stone cathedral, the subject of his next memoir.

In All My Dogs, Bill writes “Many of my dogs taught me well. . . . Most of all they created home for me. From Philadelphia’s suburbs to the Maine seaside, home was where the dog was. In the years when I was dogless, I had no true home. In the golden dog days, I found family again.”

The book is due out next spring with David R. Godine, Publisher, one of the last remaining independent publishers in America, whom Bill brought by our house along with his son, Addison, last summer for an impromptu dinner of pasta with fresh tomato sauce from our garden. David writes in his 40th anniversary catalogue, “If you believe, as I do, that your work is the footsteps you leave in the sands of time, then every book you publish should contain the proof of that devotion and promise.” The Godine catalogue, which is a work of art itself, is full of beautifully designed books written and illustrated by illustrious authors, artists, and photographers. Bill Henderson will be right at home in their midst. I’m awestruck to be included.

I drew 13 dogs for the book. Of those 13 dogs, Bill only had one clear photograph of his favorite, Lulu. He had grainy shots of four other dogs—Trixie, Duke, Opie, and Max—which were helpful in getting a sense of their shapes and colors, but not clear enough for drawing purposes. He had two shots of Sophie, his yellow Lab, as a grown up, but he wanted a drawing of her as a puppy. He had no photos whatsoever of five of the dogs—Earl, Snopes, the Mayor of Bridgehampton, Ellen, and Rocky Raccoon. Rocky was not even a recognizable breed and, it turned out, almost defied description. I had to draw him three times before I got him right. Fortunately, I was able to take my own reference photos of Bill’s two remaining dogs—Franny and Sedgwick. But, for the most part, I had to start from scratch and cobble together composite portraits of many of the dogs in Bill’s life. It was a challenge, but Bill cheered me on in his exuberant, steadfast, and unconditional way. The book has a breed or mixed breed to please almost everyone—a spitz, a spaniel, a setter, two hounds, four retrievers, a terrier, a collie, and a Portie without papers.

Much as I’d love to show you my illustrations, I’m going to save them for when the book comes out. Here are a couple more photos of my subjects. I’ll keep you posted on publication dates, parties, etc.!

 Sedgwick

St. Francis of Assisi (AKA Franny)