I was bored enough browsing through the Museum of American Folk Art’s shop yesterday to pick up Writers and their Cats, a Chronicle tchotchke book sporting a debonair  Truman Capote embracing a dashing tabby on its cover.  As I am fond of tabby cats, I ventured inside to find on page 78 our own dearly beloved Tom the Cat with his novelist friend Marlon (as above – note their complimentary gangster lean). I was surprised to find the book was published last year and nobody brought it to my attention, particularly the novelist.

“I need the buzz of activity.” Bookstore and coffee shop cats around the world love to greet and snuggle the author, but one was particularly crazy about him. James used to help care for Tom the Cat, who belonged to James’s friends Kurt and Camilla Thometz in Washington Heights, New York. “Kurt also ran a bookstore, so you could say Tom was one of New York’s legendary bookstore cats.” James told me. “I think he got used to me, since he would jump in my bed and photobomb shoots.” Sadly, Tom (pictured here) passed away in 2017 after “a very long and pretty epic life.”  The two friends shared such a strong connection that James was there during Tom’s final days. “Tom had lived a long life and was getting very old, and last year I got a message from Kurt saying that Tom was on his last legs but would love to see me.” James shared, “I was in New York so I went to visit. Kurt told me later that he wasn’t sure what I did, but the cat rallied for two weeks.”

I told the he cashier, “I just discovered my cat’s in this book!”  She did not give a shit but Camilla and I were about as amused as one can be anywhere in Lincoln Center, which is to say…. I had to laff.  Well done Mr. Cat.