Most libraries discourage dogs from accompanying their owners into the stacks. The Newark Free Library welcomes them. Three service dogs attended Garth's presentation at the 2011 New Castle County Reads in Delaware.

Some cars never die. Garth's old Spec Miata ended its racing career in a crash--in the rain, of course. He sold it for scraps, only to see some of the parts turn up again. The hood decorates the wall of TC Motorsports (Auburn, WA), now the "Garth's Brief Racing Career Museum."   

 

"I was in the bookstore with my daughter 2 days after I had to put my baby, my dog of 12 and a half years, to rest.  He was an amazing and beautiful lab mix that we had gotten at the pound.  We named him Mugzy and  we called him Muggs.  He was my buddy and the day we had to put him down was, next to burying my father, the hardest day of my life.  

 

"...I am not a book reader, and I never buy books, unless they are for my daughter.  I saw your book, read the line on the cover, and had to have it.  Imagine my reaction when I opened the book and saw the dedication page.  The first chapter was so unbelievable to me, as it described, almost in total accuracy, what we had been going through with Muggs for the past number of months--all the vet visits to try and manage his pain--and the 'shove my face into his crotch' made me smile, as that was something that Mugzy did every time we came home.  I used to have to explain to visitors that he really wasn't trying to take a sniff-he just wanted an ear scratch, and that was just the height where his head landed.

 

"Anyway, I just needed to let you know how much I loved the book.  I cried --actually I sobbed at the end.  But I found that it gave me great comfort in an unbelievably difficult time.

 

"I am just so curious to know who Muggs is to you.  If you would be at all inclined to share that with me, I would truly love that.  I know that people are extremely uncomfortable talking with a mourner about their loss.  But I have found it to be great comfort for me to talk--and to remember.  I am just so curious.

 

"Thanks so much for the book.  I felt, in some way, that my dog was trying to reach me somehow.

 

Very Sincerely,

Julie

 

Note: The Art of Racing in the Rain is dedicated to Muggs, the Stein family dog during Garth's childhood. Garth grew up viewing her more as a sibling than a pet.