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Don Ray Smith is a Humorist and a Writer in Louisville, Kentucky. Here is his review of my new book, “The Cat Family!”
“Right off the bat, I looked at the cover of Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr.’s latest book and made a seriously flawed⎯or was it clawed⎯assumption.
His “The Cat Family” title, I presumed, would be written in the occasional Van Stockum-style of loading a narrative with not only a story but all sorts of scientific and biology-based bric-a-brac.
Brother, was I off base. No dry analysis here. And no anonymous cats, either. Here was “Molly” and “One-Eyed Pirate.” And “Portia.” And “Leah,” and “Allie Bee.” And “Tony,” identified by Van Stockum as a unique, well-seasoned feline gatekeeper for peace, indeed, a protector of the far less pugnacious meek pussycats who also shelter on the premises.
And, to make things more interesting, enter the “Ogre”⎯also known as Van Stockum’s wife Cheryl. That label Van Stockum put on his wife was based on her standing height compared to a cat. It was a misdirecting label, really, as Van Stockum generously and honestly depicts her, Cheryl is revealed time and time again to demonstrate an outsized motherly affection for the lost, the hungry, the wounded furballs who also make up the couples’ family.
The Cat Family is a big reveal to those of us not accustomed to thinking of cats beyond that old, hurtful cliché. You know⎯”The only good cat is a dead one.”
Readers, through various episodes and feline rest and unrest, are reminded here, time and time again, that each cat has its own fur coat, its own personality, and yes its own attitude.
Hence, from cat creatures big and small, adorable kitten to heavy-bellied oldster, all of these residents of the Van Stockum household have the aforementioned names.
Somehow, Van Stockum has managed in this handy, short account, to tell the story of a cat family⎯he and his wife’s cat family⎯as they live through a recent winter’s spell of life. Day to day. Revelation to revelation.
In less than 125 pages, Van Stockum has invited us readers out to his farm, to take a good look at how life plays out in this highly concentrated human/cat habitat. In doing so, he acts as spokesman for these creatures. Virtually connects these farm felines with their universe on Earth and⎯what the heck⎯the greater universe. In doing so, we are informed by Van Stockum that a cat might have heartfelt feelings and thought processes and jealousies just as profound and complex as the human counterparts they take up with on his Shelbyville farm.
The Van Stockum’s ever-changing herd of cats has picked out its human friends, companions, roommates⎯and not the other way around.
Van Stockum’s Cat Family is indeed a family. A family which can spend a cold winter’s day warm and content inside the Van Stockum farmhouse. The door is open for all who will come in from the cold. Some do. Others would rather not. Which is fine with Van Stockum and the Ogre. The humans don’t get to make all the decisions here. See what I mean?
We learn that, hey, cats share many other traits with us humans. By mood, they’re opinionated. Cuddly. Obstinate. Jealous. Loyal. Brave. And they possess varying amounts of raw instinct to survive, be it against natural elements or their cat brethren.
Van Stockum’s observations of those who share his house are penetrating. And he is more than willing to be honest about it and admit, at times, that this or that cat has his number.
Just over halfway along our journey through Van Stockum’s book, the man reveals something about himself. Something we’d already suspected.
“Cats,” Van Stockum writes, “have evolved a special place in whatever part of our heart we reserved for caring.”
Van Stockum, and much more so his wife, are suckers for cats.
Through days and nights, through his watching football on TV, Van Stockum, a life observer if there ever was one, abides on his couch. But at the same time, he takes in his wife’s seemingly unlimited capacity to offer open arms to their feline family, and appreciates Cheryl’s devotion to their cats and her little ones’ health and happiness.
On that score, Van Stockum admits that his wife puts his own concerns⎯between football plays⎯to shame.
Life, and Seasons, move on. There are struggles in and out of the farmhouse, household cat conflicts and plenty of threats from the hostile world out there in the woods⎯a hungry owl, a prowling coyote.
Here at the Van Stockum place, we’re allowed to look and listen in, see with our own eyes this world of intertwined humans and felines. Two species busy, at times, at faking each other out. Trying to play fast ones on each other.
Cats choose their humans, if the belief still holds.
Love, caring and gentility permeate the indoors and the outdoors on this farm. And yet it is a rough world, particularly outside of the farmhouse’s doors. Cold nights and the unpredictable comings and goings of this cat or that one make up rhythms of their lives. But solace and serenity and purpose, the writer seems to suggest as he closes, win. Sometimes.
A look back at Leah the cat: ‘Leah is a gentle soul and needs to be cared for. We all … need more attention to our needs. More love. But we have learned that we must hide ourselves from all of the bullies out there, even if the bullies are us.’
Yes, call The Cat Family a refuge⎯for both species.”
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