PLYMOUTH \u2014 The morning Whiskey Joe wriggled out of his harness and disappeared, his owner Jill Andra Young could only imagine where the Basenji\u2019s paws might take him.<\/p>\n
The retired show dog, who\u2019s lived with Young at her Old Village home for about three years, was gone for several hours before he got back home safely. The adventure stuck in Young\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt bothered me,\u201d she said. \u201cI wondered what he did while he was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
That unanswered question grew into “Whiskey Joe Gets Lost,” Young\u2019s debut children\u2019s book released this month.<\/p>\n
The story follows a mischievous dog as he navigates neighborhoods, playgrounds and city streets before spotting a familiar fountain \u2013 much like the one in Plymouth\u2019s Kellogg Park \u2013 a landmark he knows well from walks with his owner.<\/p>\n
From there, Whiskey Joe makes his way to the police station, where his microchip helps reunite him with his \u201cmama.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moral of the story,\u201d Young said, \u201cis always have your pets microchipped so they can get home.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Plymouth resident since 1982, Young adopted Whiskey Joe after losing her previous Basenji, Henry. She\u2019s loved the quirky catlike breed since she was a teenager, she said, drawn to their independence, intelligence and the fact that \u201cthey don\u2019t bark.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘It was an accident’<\/p>\n
After studying at the Center for Creative Studies, Young ran her own commercial photography business in downtown Plymouth for 25 years, specializing in pet portraits.<\/p>\n
She never intended to become a children\u2019s book author.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an accident,\u201d she said. \u201cI created a Snapfish (photo) book just for myself to kind of work out creatively what might\u2019ve happened to Whiskey Joe when he went missing. When I posted the cover on Facebook, everyone\u2019s like, \u2018Wow, this is fabulous. Did you write a children\u2019s book? And I said, no, no, no. But the more people I talked to, the more apparent it became that maybe I\u2019d stumbled onto something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young eventually learned how to publish the book through Amazon and began preparing for a launch event after friends and neighbors encouraged her to share Whiskey Joe\u2019s story more widely.<\/p>\n
While \u201cWhiskey Joe Gets Lost\u201d doesn\u2019t mention Plymouth by name, its inspiration is clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople look at it, they\u2019re like, \u2018This is Plymouth,\u2019\u201d Young said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m like, well, yeah, kind of, because that\u2019s where I live. That\u2019s where he got away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young will host a launch and signing for \u201cWhiskey Joe Gets Lost\u201d from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at EG Nicks in downtown Plymouth.<\/p>\n