Publisher's Synopsis
I wrote Looking For Cats while I was working on the Oglala Sioux reservation and living in Pine Ridge, SD. I was fascinated with the Lakota culture and the way I saw that culture being lived out daily by natives on the reservation. I found the people to be proud and strong; governing themselves and reflecting the artistic talents that are so prevalent in their culture. I am proud to call them my friends and enjoyed their loyalty and unpretentious way of life. Having been raised on a farm and being inseparable from my horses, I was delighted to see Sioux children free to ride their horses wherever they chose. I watched parades from my porch where I could hear the rodeo announcers calling out, "Pine Ridge, get ready to see the cowboys herding these wild horses through town on their way back to the sanctuary," and then watching those beautiful creatures pounding across the green space right in front of me. Life for me during those years was so full of adventure. I was enthralled to watch the children and adults dancing in the powwows and to learn how they had made their outstanding and colorful regalia. So much of what they hold sacred is now sacred to me. I found that people there love their animals, whatever they are. And I kept my "Gracie" cat inside because wild dogs lived in the creek area behind my house. I also fell in love with the wonderful huge elm tree in my lawn which I named, "Mr. Elm." It was that very tree that inspired the story, "Looking for Cats."
