Aug. 2, 1955

Caleb Carr, the noted historical novelist, was born on August 2, 1955. The author of The Alienist also wrote a novel in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, called The Italian Secretary. At the end of this book, the very end, at the end of several pages of acknowledgments, we find this touching tribute to Carr's cat:

Finally Mark Twain once remarked that "if a man could be crossed with a cat, it would improve the man but degrade the cat." I hope that my own familiar and companion has not thought it too degrading to play muse, as well.