BY MICHELLE MILLER
STAFF WRITER
A veterinarian, who used to run
a local bread and breakfast with
his wife, has taken his experience,
wit and research and turned it
into a book.
Robert Hart, said he feels great
excitement and equal tension
about seeing his ``baby’’ being
shown to the pubic. He said it is
much like going on stage for the
first time_ with the same fears
about success or falling flat on
one’s nose. Will they boo or will
they clap, he asked?
``Hart’s Original Petpourri Vol.
1 Miscellany: Fact, Fancy, Trivia,
and Whimsy about Pets, Vets
and Owners,’’ is the first book
Hart has had published and it is
being released this month. Hart
said he has a young adult novel
looking for a publishing home
and is working on volume two
of Petpourri, ``Cageliners,’’ an irreverent
series of vignettes about
pets, vets and owners.
``I am also organizing material
for a second edition of ``Miscellany’’
if it is as successful as I hope
it will be,’’ said Hart.
Jack Hanna, director emeritus
of the Columbus Zoo and host of
‘Into the Wild’ calls the book ``an
amazing collection of whimsical
trivia and real facts...lots of fun for
animal lovers.’’
``If you’ve ever wanted to know
more about the lovable creatures
we call ‘pets’ look no further,’’ he
said.
The book is filled with a mixture,
a miscellany, a pot-pourri, a
compilation of fact, fancy, trivia,
and whimsy about pets, veterinarians,
and owners. According
to the book’s preface, the intent is
to provide a grab bag of material
that might educate, enlighten,
amuse or entertain readers. The
book is designed so that a reader
may dip into, browse, or read,
depending on one’s fancy.
``Because Miscellany contains
such a mix of subjects, as the subtitle
describes, it is a unique
form of pet book that is hard to
pigeonhole,’’ said Hart. ``Before
seeking a publisher I looked at over
a thousand animal books in Barnes
and Noble and Books-A-Million and
found nothing quite like it. Hopefully
it will appeal to a wide range of
readers.’’
The materials in the book are
derived from a variety of sources,
according to Hart. He used his high
school biology notes, journal entries,
snippets that he was told, personal
lecture notes, reference material he
collected throughout the years, his
own library and internet sources.
``In many cases I used an internet
search merely to jog my memory _ if
what I found conflicted with what I
thought I knew as a veterinarian, or I
had doubts about it, I tried to verify
it, apologize for it, or else discard it,’’
said Hart.
The book is not only about dogs
and cats, but they figure in it prominently
because they are members of
so many households throughout the
works and more of them have licked,
bitten, nuzzled and scratched me
than any other type of pet, said Hart.
He said cats and dogs have similarities
_ they both put up with ignorant
humans _ and great differences.
Dogs and cats are best summed up
by Konrad Lorenz, who said, ``There
is no domestic animal which has so
radically altered its whole way of
living, indeed its whole sphere of
interests, that has become domestic
in so true a sense as the dog: and
there is no animal that, in the course
of its (18) centuries-old association
with man, has altered so little as the
cat,’’ added Hart.
Hart’s book is available for
purchase for $14.95 on his website
www.hartsoriginalpetpourri.com.
AUTHOR’S LOCAL CONNECTION
In 1989, Hart and his wife Veronica
(Ronnie) bought the original farmhouse
to the property that has been
the Westville Airport since the 1950s.
The Hart’s opened ``The Plane Old
House’’ as a B & B during the National
Baseball Hall of Fame weekend in
1990 and ran the business until selling
it in 2004. The couple moved to
Florida.
Hart said he took a long and convoluted
route to Cooperstown, first
coming to America in 1972 to teach
at the University of California at Davis.
Inching his way closer, Hart said
he joined the Animal Medical Center
in New York City in 1978 where he
met Ronnie. He said together they
migrated with some of their six children
(each had three) to Schenectady.
In 1989, once all the children
had fled the nest, Hart said he and
his wife went to Cooperstown where
they planned to write and run a bed
and breakfast.
Hart said
he planned to
work as a relief
veterinarian
while his wife
operated the
B & B and the
both of them
would spend
the rest of their
time writing.
However, Hart
said most of
their time was spent caring for the
property and guests and traveling to
and from the store.
Hart said he worked part-time
for Michael Powers and Lucy Jones
when they had their practice at the
foot of Murphy Hill. They now have a
clinic on Route 28.
Hart said he also worked for Lisa
Johnson at the Pittsfield Veterinary
Clinic in Edmeston and for Charles
Conrad in Fort Plain.
Hart has been an ensemble
member of Murder Mysteries on Call
Inc. since 1994, appeared in musicals
with Orpheus Theater in Oneonta
and in productions with Richfield
Springs Community Theater, Ilion
Little Theater, the Daytona Playhouse
in Florida and New Smyrna Little
Theater in Florida.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hart is a graduate of the Royal
Veterinary College in London. He
is a veterinarian with more than 40
years of experience in academia and
practice. Following 14 years working
in London and Liverpool Universities,
the Moredun Institute in Edinburgh
Scotland, and the University of California
at Davis, he entered general
practice. He has been in general
practice in New York and Florida for
30 years.
In addition to authoring or coauthoring
17 scientific articles, and
giving numerous presentations in
England and the United States, he
has had stories published in Horse
and Hound, Dog World, Animal
Review, Animal World, The Florida
Writer and Private Pilot. He wrote
a series of humorous vignettes for
the magazine Veterinary Technician,
several feature articles for the Capital
District Business Review in Albany
and currently writes a monthly
veterinary column for a community
newsletter.
Hart’s young adult novel was a
finalist for the 1998 Heekin Foundation
prize. His short memoir on
flying was fourth in its category in
the Writer’s Digest annual writing
contest in 2001.
Hart has also contributed to the
web page of the Unofficial History of
Television Studios in London.
Hart grew up in Africa in close contact
with wild and domestic animals.
He learned to ride at a boarding
school where the moral and behavioral
codes were self-monitored,
raced horses in flat, hurdle and
steeplechase races, winning both the
first race in Nyasaland when the Turf
Club was reestablished after World
War II, and the first Nyasaland Derby.
He represented the British University
riding team in event competition
in Cologne Germany. He also rode
in a circus and handled horses on
a television production featuring
Orson Welles. Despite his experience
with horses his veterinary practice
outside of the academic environment
has focused on small animals,
mainly dogs and cats.
Hart and his wife currently live in
Florida and are active members of
the Florida Writers Association and
several theater companies. They
share a house with their feline editor,
Oliver.
