‘Dewey’ book, exclusive release scheduled for 2008 Clay County Fair

SPENCER, IOWA- Dewey: The Small-Town Cat Who Touched the World, will be available to the public for the first time at the 2008 Clay County Fair. The book, written by former Spencer Library Director, Vicki Myron and co-author Bret Witter, tells the story of the infamous Dewey Readmore Books and his connection to the community of Spencer.

The ‘Dewey’ booth, sponsored by Hilltop Books of Spirit Lake, will be set up in the hall of the Clay County Regional Events Center available to sell the story that has captivated people across the world.

In the book, Myron tells the story of Dewey, herself and the community of Spencer. In January of 1988, Dewey was put in the overnight book drop-off box where he was found by Myron. She took the cat in and he soon became a mascot for the library, providing companionship to library-goers of all ages.

His years of service to the library and community gained him much publicity both on the national and international level. Throughout his life, Dewey was featured in 22 national magazines, starred in a documentary, featured on Paul Harvey The Rest of the Story, and Japan Public Television.

On Nov. 29, 2006, Dewey died in the arms of his companion Vicki Myron. Morning shows, newspapers and websites across the country and around the world reported on Dewey’s death.

The 19 year-old-cat’s legacy was decided book worthy in February of the following year, when Myron began writing the story. Co-author Bret Witter joined Myron in writing the book. Witter’s resume includes editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and ghost writer of numerous other books.

Over the span of the year, Myron and Witter developed the book into what has already proven to be a crowd favorite. Myron describes the book as “Not a story about a cat, but a story about the community of Spencer and the people Dewey worked to bring together.”

The book has already been highly acclaimed and has not yet reached its release date. On Sept. 6, 2008 ‘Dewey’ will be available exclusively to the community at the Clay County Fair. A booth will be set up at the fair in the Events Center hallway hosted by Hilltop Books in Spirit Lake. Myron will be available at various times during all nine days for book signing.

‘Dewey’ has been given front shelf status at popular book stores including; Borders, Barnes & Noble and Waldens. The book will be available for purchase exclusively at the Clay County Fair and will be released to the North American public on September 24. International release will follow in January and February, reaching 22 countries.

In addition to the exclusive release, Myron will also be the feature of a story for CBS News Sunday Morning. The Sunday morning news show will spend three days in Spencer taping Myron and the community of Spencer. Saturday, Sept. 6 a local CBS affiliate will wrap up the story by covering Myron during her book signing and featuring shots of the Clay County Fair.

The 2008 Clay County Fair runs Sept. 6-14 in Spencer, Iowa. For more information visit www.claycountyfair.com or call 712-262-4740.