Rebecca Brown's Interview with
Christine Reilly Carter
Author & Illustrator of The Collie of Castle Hill
Rebecca :
How did you meet Carl Maier & Rusty, & when did you realize there was a book in the story of his childhood with his first dog, Lucky?
Chris :
Jerilyn Weber, a friend who specializes in pet portraiture, asked me to speak with a client of hers who had asked her to illustrate a book for him. I agreed to meet Carl, intending to talk him out of his project. I had heard too many sad tales of individuals with a good story who had a garage full of books they couldn't sell. Carl's passion for his animals & for the therapy work he does with his animals to help humanity, caused me to reconsider his story. The story itself was remarkable.
In 1954, Carl's father gave him a collie pup for Christmas, a very special collie pup, a son of the famous Lassie on TV. Within a year, Lucky saved him from drowning in the Neshanic River. Rusty, Carl's current collie is a son of the 8th Lassie & is now the National Red Cross Comfort Dog. Carl informed me that he had been given the right to breed Rusty & continue the bloodline of Lassie through the “Son of Lassie.” He had a van filled with Lassie memorabilia & certificates to back up his story. I saw the variety of marketing aspects possible for his story. I agreed to take on the project.
Rebecca :
Did you see yourself as the illustrator of your book from the start, & in what medium did you draw your exquisite black & white pictures?
Chris :
I accepted the project as the author & illustrator, retaining all rights. I chose graphite pencil as the medium. It seemed appropriate for the story, a way of bringing the reader back to the mid 50's when books were often black & white, or two-color, printed on off-white, matte paper. Television was also black & white back then.
Rebecca :
Tell us about the dogs who were your models.
Chris :
Carl's two dogs, Rusty & Amanda, were my main models. I used my digital camera to take hundreds of photos of them in every possible position & action. I also used one of my own dogs, Bandit, who is a collie, shepard, terrier, lab mix, as a stand-in when I took the reference shots for the illustrations of Carl. My nephew, Lee, played the part of Lucky, crawling across the floor next to his brother, Bryce, for the very first illustration, used for the cover of the book.
Rebecca :
After the discovery that perhaps Lucky really wasn't a descendant of the fabled Lassie, did it make any difference?
Chris :
Yes. I am an abstract painter. I also write & illustrate. I had no idea of the problems I would run into when I attempted to obtain permission to use the name “Lassie” in the manuscript. Fortunately, numerous individuals came to my aide, supplying me with information convincing me that Lucky could not have been a son of Lassie.
I also discovered that Carl did not have the rights to continue the bloodline. The most difficult task was to approach Carl with this information. His life had revolved around the fact that his first dog, Lucky, had been a son of Lassie. He was devastated. For thirty years he had been telling his story to everyone he met. How could it be false?
The irony is that, because he believed his father's story of how he obtained Lucky, he had convinced the breeders of the Lassies that Lucky had been one of the sons. It was because of his continued connection with the breeders that he was able to obtain Rusty. His dream finally come true, though it took 48 years! Needless to say, I took all mention of Lassie out of the book, rewrote the author's note & completely changed my marketing plan so as not to infringe on trademark rights. Classic Media now holds those rights.
Carl has come to realize that it was the loving bond he had with Lucky that saved his life, not Lucky's bloodline. It is the work Carl has continued to do with his dogs to nurture the bond between animals & humans that is far more important than the bloodline of his dogs.
Rebecca :
What is a Certified Therapy Dog, & where can people find them?
Chris :
A Certified Therapy Dog is a dog that has passed several behavioral tests & has been deemed non-aggressive & capable of acting in a nurturing way. Such dogs are brought into hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc. to help comfort people of all ages.
If you think your pet would be suitable, you can attend classes that teach you how to work with your dog. Your dog can then be tested for certification. Not only dogs can become certified. Cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, & other animals may also be certified. You can obtain more information by going to the “Related Links” page on my website www.pmpbooks.com.
Rebecca :
Tell us about your life as an artist, how may Readers buy your work & do you have a website?
Chris : The Collie of Castle Hill took two & a half years from start to finish. It is the first story I have written that was not my own. I had to write a manuscript that rang true for Carl. Then there were all the changes that took place in the midst of doing the illustrations. A year into the project, I decided to start my own publishing company to guarantee that the book would not go out of print. I began Polt Mountain Press.
Autographed copies of the book, The Collie of Castle Hill Calendar, & note cards may be ordered online at www.pmpbooks.com. The book can also be ordered through your local bookstore. It has recently been nominated for the ABA/BookSense List of 76. The bookstores may obtain it through Baker & Taylor. B&T carries both the hardcover & the softcover editions. As of December, you may order it through Amazon.com. There are also a number of Internet Bookstores that carry it.
I mentioned before that I am an abstract artist. I had to teach myself to draw realistically in order to pay my bills. It is only in the last few years that I have gained recognition for my work as an abstract painter. I am delighted that I have found an audience with whom I can share my true, visual experience of the world around me. I have never seen the world realistically. For me it has always been simply shapes of different sizes, values & colors, arranged in a variety of patterns. To turn my world into a reality that others can understand I had to learn to “translate” my vision into what is called “representational art” or “realism.”
Most of my realistic paintings I found to be dreary & dull, lifeless. What I found interesting about working on the illustrations for The Collie of Castle Hill is that I went through two stages of translation.
First I had to translate my abstract visions into realism to tell the story of Carl & Lucky. Then, in order for me to give life to the illustrations I had to translate the realism back into patterns & shapes without losing the realism. If you look carefully at the illustrations in the book, you will see that beneath their realism, they are simply abstract shapes describing textures & patterns. What fun!!!
If you would like to view an eclectic sampling of my paintings, captured-digigraph collages, photographs & whimsical drawings, visit my gallery website at www.crcarter.com.
Rebecca :
Do catch my Review of Christine Reilly Carter's The Collie of Castle Hill -- I hope it makes you go out & buy yourself a copy!
RebeccasiReads.com
