Katz and dogs

For many years, Jon Katz was a contributor to such publications as Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. He also served as executive producer of ``CBS Morning News." Then he turned his attention to dogs. Since the late 1980s, he has written five books about his four-legged friends, including his latest, ``A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life," which arrives in stores today . Katz, who will read from the tale of his "troubled" border collie at Brookline Booksmith on Oct. 12, spoke to us by phone.
MATT ROBINSON

How did you first come to write about dogs?

Somebody sent me this border collie whose name at the time was Devon. I didn't get him until he was 3, and he had apparently had problems with training. When I said his name, he would cower and wince. So I changed his name to Orson (after Orson Welles) so I could retrain him. And after a bag of liver treats and saying his new name about 40 times, he was ready to retrain and he became a calmer dog. At the time he came, I was living in New Jersey and writing about technology (not very successfully) and I was kind of lost. So when he came to me, I felt that I should write about him. So I bought a farm in upstate New York, and my life changed, and the dog sparked it. That was the basis for my first book,

Do you write about anything else?

I am broadening out -- I write about dogs, animals, and rural life -- but I write mostly about dogs. I had spent a lot of time writing about other things, but not as happily.

What is the attraction?

People love animals so much, and they want to read about them. So it has been very satisfying as writer to have stumbled onto a subject that people like so much.

What is the basis of the man-dog relationship, and is it stronger for men?

I don't know if I'd say it's stronger for men. In fact, the majority of dog owners are women. It can be very strong for men, because I think men have a harder time opening up emotionally. Men don't make friends as easily and don't talk as openly, so they may find it easier to become attached to a dog. It has been said that women love dogs because they see them as being emotionally supportive, while men like dogs because they don't have to talk.

Is a dog truly man's best friend?

No, I actually don't think so. I think people are actually the best. I don't think dogs work well when they replace people. I love dogs, but even my dog helped me most because he led me to people. People are my best friends, and I think we are in danger of putting too much emotional responsibility on dogs and making them our psychiatrists and soul mates and even our children.

HBO films recently began production of a filmed version of your book "A Dog Year," starring Jeff Bridges. Who will Jeff be playing?

He will be playing me, and it's quite an honor. It's quite a shock, actually. They sent a raiding party to my house to get my clothes so they could dress Jeff like me, but nobody who knows me would want to dress like me, so that was a big surprise.

What project is next?

Well, "Dog Days" will be out next July, and the next one is ``Soul of a Dog," which is an inquiry into whether dogs and other animals have souls. Forty years ago people would have said no, but now many say yes, so I am interested in why that has changed so much.

Aaron Carter has broken off his engagement to his older brother's ex-girlfriend . The 18-year-old pop singer called off his engagement to 22-year-old actress Kari Ann Peniche just a week after he proposed onstage in Las Vegas, said his representative, Juliette Harris. Peniche is a former girlfriend of Carter's 26-year-old brother, Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. She's also a former Miss Teen USA and former Playboy Playmate. ``I got caught up in the moment and proposed," the younger Carter told Us Weekly magazine in a report on its website. ``I then realized it was a hasty thing to do and I am not ready for marriage quite yet."

A New York judge yesterday dismissed a $10 million spousal abuse suit against Liza Minnelli filed by her estranged husband David Gest, who claimed the entertainer assaulted him in a drunken rage. Gest alleged in his 11-page lawsuit that Minnelli, 60, threw a lamp at him in a London hotel, and that when he tried to calm her down she beat him in the face with her fists. The civil suit is separate from divorce proceedings between the singer-actress and Gest, an event producer and promoter. Minnelli has also filed a separate counterclaim against Gest, saying he alienated people in show business, costing her work.

Mel Gibson criticized the war in Iraq while promoting his new film ``Apocalypto" at a Texas film festival. Gibson, 50, drew parallels between the collapsing Mayan civilization depicted in the movie and the United States at a screening Friday at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, the Hollywood Reporter reported yesterday. ``The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," the actor-director said after a screening of an unfinished cut of ``Apocalypto," his first directorial effort since ``The Passion of the Christ." ``What's human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?" he said at the festival, which is devoted to science fiction, horror, and fantasy films.

FROM WIRE REPORTS

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