The Cat Who Covered the World
Christopher S. Wren
"...when you wake up in those bleak hours after midnight with the next day's worries chewing on your brain, reach over the blanket to touch the warm fur nestled against your side, and hear the soft purr of reassurance that love makes up for a lot in life."
"Henrietta's life overseas triggered more mail to me from 'Times' readers than the most momentous political events I have covered in eighteen years as a foreign correspondent, including Anwar el-Sadat's visit to Israel and Nelson Mandela's release from prison in South Africa."
--Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren, foreign correspondent for the New York Times, on a lark, wrote a piece about his cat, published in the Times one weekend in their Living section. It was then that he received the flood of mail mentioned in the previous excerpt. Shortly thereafter, he received a phone call from a reader in Omaha who was coming to visit Beijing and wanted to bring something to Henrietta. When the visitor arrived with dozens of gifts for the cat, none of which she would take compensation for, she offered to Wren this advice: "Forget Russia, forget China. Write about your cat."
After further encouragement from other readers, family and Times correspondents, Wren set down the stories of his days as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, New York and Johannesburg, relating Henrietta's adventures with each posting.
In spite of the many hardships suffered by both family and cat during these postings and in transit from one to the other, Henrietta lived to the ripe old age of eighteen. When relating the story of Henrietta's death, Wren tempers the sadness of her leaving this world with a little about how he came to possess two more cats in spite of his protests, and realized that loving another cat is not an affront to Henrietta's memory.
On a practical note, Wren offers a listing of the most and least cat-friendly airlines, compiled through dozens of flights with Henrietta in tow. Air France and Portugal's TAP get high marks, as did Japan Airlines. British Airways gets low marks (no cats in the cabin) although Wren admits that they make a terrific cup of tea, and thus rated better than Lufthansa. Most American airlines were accommodating if given enough advance warning to prevent having two warring cats in one cabin.
In addition to airline evaluations, Wren offers dozens of whimsical lessons in foreign languages, including Russian, Chinese, Zulu, Latin, French and Arabic. Wren's concise, humorous style and vivid descriptions of their travels and lodgings will delight not only cat lovers but people who are fascinated by cultural idiosyncrasies and faraway places. This and Wren's touching details about his extraordinarily intelligent and cohesive nuclear family will make this book an enjoyable read for just about anyone.
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