Patti Kerr. Author, speaker, educator, and animal advocate

I have always loved to write and, back in 1985, wrote my “Life List” (what many today call a Bucket List).  On that list was: “#21: Write a book.”  At that time, I never could have imagined the journey that would lead me to checking that off my List List.

After helping my father care for my mother for many years, I wrote my first book: I Love You, Who Are You?: Loving and Caring for a Parent with Alzheimer’s. It is a guide for anyone caring for someone with Alzheimer’s — from diagnosis to the end of the journey— and is filled with the advice, experience, and insights of over 100 family and professional caregivers. I essentially wrote the book I wish I’d had during all the years we cared for my mother.

I began speaking at conferences and care facilities to support others on a journey with a loved one and Alzheimer’s — and then my life took a sudden, and unexpected,  turn when my beloved dog, Brooke, unexpectedly passed.

I never had a dog growing up and was actually very afraid of dogs as a young girl.  Brooke was my first dog and I was unprepared for the intense emotions and sadness I would feel after she passed.  People reached out in sympathy and understanding and told me stories of a beloved dog who had changed them and their life.  Their stories captivated me and slowly the seeds for the first Magical Dogs book was planted.

Magical Dogs: Love and Lessons from our Canine Companions was released in 2016.  The next book in the series, Magical Dogs 2: Connecting the Dots, Connecting the Dogs is scheduled for release in the summer of 2018 and Magical Dogs 3: On the Road will follow in early 2019.

Writing, these books, and these dogs have changed me, and my life, in ways I never could have imagined. The fact that I now choose to spend my days writing books about dogs is a credit to one thing, and one thing only: the Magic of Dogs.