Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan is published by William Morrow. It tells the story of my adventures with Atticus M. Finch, a little dog of some distinction. You can also find our column in the NorthCountry News.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Mount Jackson is Dedicated to Kozmo

We would be honored to have you hike Mt. Jackson in memory of our first and beloved Golden, Kozmo…Kozie, Kman, Sir Kozmos Mariner, Evil Doodies, the Mayor... the nicknames for him were endless! He was our “first born” (before our 3 sons) and the countless photo albums of just him say it all! Mt. Jackson was the first 4,000 footer that Kozie hiked back on Oct 3, 1998. Coincidently, Jackson is a town we now live in and it was Kozie’s final home. There isn’t a day that goes by here in the mountains that we don’t think of him on the trails. This was his home and he was his happiest when walking in the woods with us and his old green tennis ball or a stick. It wasn’t just any stick he would find and carry; the sticks were closer to the size of tree trunks! He talked all the time and had a way of communicating without ever having to bark. When he was really happy or saying hello he would sound like a mooing cow. He was a funny dog with a personality unlike any other I’ve ever met. His loss to cancer was devastating to our family.

We thank you Tom for finding such a worthy cause to support. We thank you Tom for all that you do and who you are. We thank you Tom and little Atti for inspiring us - we are so glad that you are in this world and even more so, our friends here in Jackson.

Be Safe!
Onward & Upward,
The Hagerty Family (Jenny, Shawn, Logan, Aidan, Quinn, Molly, Bo-Bo, Paco and Grampy Joe)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am Jenny Hagerty's mother, so I was Kozmo's "grandmother." My German shepherd/lab mix dog Hacker was born a year before Kozzie, but they were great friends growing up. They would spend hours and days tugging on either end of the same stick, growling and pretending to be fierce. When Hacker would climb up in my lap (he continued to climb up onto my lap for several years even though he weighed around 70 pounds) Kozzie would get jealous and climb in my lap too. Every time Kozzie would visit us or we would visit his family, Kozzie would always greet us by crooning "ah roo, ah roo," which was his usual greeting. Kozzie and Hacker were so spoiled they thought they were people, not dogs, and remained fast friends until Kozzie died. They were very competitive as hey got older and had to have the same toy or ball, no matter what. Hacker turns thirteen years old November 30 and has a lot of health issues, but I'm sure he remembers his friend Kozzie. I know I do.

Kozzie's grandmother,
Connie Gay