Albert, The Story of a Lost Dog
by
Book Details
About the Book
“Albert, The Story of a Lost Dog” tells of a small dog hurled from a moving truck into California’s mountain wilderness. Suffering from hunger, thirst and loneliness, his skin is inflamed by insects and thorny undergrowth.
When he discovers a dancing fox that hypnotizes wild turkeys, Albert tries a somersault with startling results. Later an angry mother bear wallops him, but Albert is smart as well as brave.
Homeless and wandering, he finally notices a man outside a cabin,alone and leaning on a cane. Running closer, he wags his tail and barks. “We already have a dog,” the man murmurs. But Ellen, his wife, brings out kibble and water for Albert. At nighttime, they take him inside with them.
Carrying suitcases for the drive home to San Francisco, Ellen sees a black flash whirling past her toward the car. It is Albert, dreading another desertion. She lays him on the back seat and his shivering stops. Upon their arrival, two daughters greet them. The family includes a cat and another dog.
A life of drama, humor, sadness and love awaits Albert in San Francisco.
About the Author
Author Priscilla Q. Weld was born on Martha’s Vineyard Island, MA. She attended Milton Academy with a scholarship and Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY for her diploma. Later, she attended author/instructor Leonard Bishop’s nighttime fiction workshop in Berkeley, CA for three years.
When she was only ten, Priscilla submitted her article to a contest run by St. Nicholas magazine. Contestants were told to write about “The most unusual thing your dog has ever done.” Her English setter had climbed a tree to chase a cat, and the article won a first prize.
As a city staff reporter for the New York Herald Tribune, she interviewed Adolf Hitler’s nephew in the Bronx. The Nazi dictator’s relative had become an American citizen, accepted into the U.S. Army.
Other assignments covered included the arrivals in New York of Eleanor Roosevelt and Golda Meir.
One unusual news subject was a poor horse whose strenuous job was to pull an over-loaded cart in downtown Manhattan. His hind leg got trapped in a manhole, and he had to be lifted out by a specially adapted derrick.
In a few years, Priscilla left Manhattan and moved to the City By The Bay. There she married architect Lee T. Loberg, San Francisco native. They had two daughters, Ingrid and Karen. Priscilla wrote press releases for three creative entities: the California Historical Society, an artistic painter named Jerry Jolley, and a children’s theater.
Rapidly growing daughters were a prime consideration in their parents’ lives. Her husband opened up a small architectural office downtown, and Priscilla became certified as a California court reporter. As a free-lancer for eleven years, she was well remunerated. She particularly enjoyed maritime reporting, when she climbed on board ships at port and covered attorneys’ depositions there. She believes that court reporting is a very good background for creative writing. Accuracy and handling the unexpected are equally important.
When she was widowed, she went back east to assist her Boston family. Subsequently she was married to Lothrop M. Weld, Jr., retired senior VP with a Boston real estate firm. In Duxbury, MA, they lived together with their dogs near the ocean until her husband’s death.
Priscilla returned to California and also to her favorite career, creative writing. Two daughters, two stepsons, A-1 friends, relatives and others add sunshine to her life.