One Dog Barked, the Other Howled: A Meditation on Several Lives of a Minor American Writer

This is the story of a man who left instructions that the word ＂WRITER＂--in capital letters--should be carved into the center of his tombstone.

Philip F. Deaver’s writing won Flannery O’Connor and O. Henry awards. For 20 years, he was the writer-in-residence and creative writing professor at Florida’s prestigious Rollins College, until frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) robbed him of his ability to write or speak.

This book’s subtitle, acknowledging Philip Deaver as a ＂minor＂ American writer, is not pejorative. Although he was not a household name, and his list of published works was not long, his written words were invariably of a high standard. And coupled with his outstanding work was the recognition by all who knew him that, as a human being of intelligence, compassion, and wit, there was nothing minor about him.

Philip Deaver’s stories were ＂full of blurred time and half-lived dreams. Written in vivid, spare prose, the best of these stories linger, sad and profound, like songs you sing to yourself＂ -The New York Times Book Review

Jeshel Forrester lives in a cabin on the eastern bank of Lake Rotoiti in New Zealand’s North Island. His musical compositions and recordings include six albums of folk/bluegrass music, and he is the author of four novels, a book of poetry, a previous memoir, and numerous short stories. He lived and worked for many years on Indian reservations in the American West and represented numerous Aboriginal clients in Australia.