March 15, 2025 • 31 mins
Veteran journalist and celebrity interviewer, Glenn Plaskin, is the author of Katie Up and Down the Hall. This is the true story of how his dog, Katie, turned five neighbors into a family. During this podcast, Glenn shared the real-life escapades that Katie had that brought him closer to his neighbors to create a family like no other. He also shared with us which celebrities he and Katie met and interviewed as well as what it’s been like since Katie’s passing with his new cocker spaniel, Lucy.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio. I'm your host,
Tim Link. Thank you for joining us today. My guest
today is going to be Glenn Plaskin. You know, we're
talking with us today about recently released book Katie Up
and Down the Hall, a true story of how one
dog turned five neighbors into a family, which is a
true story about Glenn's own dog, Katie and how she
(00:31):
basically brought five neighbors together. So we're going be talking
to Glenn about Katie Up and Down the Hall here
in just a moment. But first I want to talk
to you a little bit about it. You know I
always like giving you helpful hints and tips and stories. Well,
get a little tip for you today. You may already
know about it, You may already have one in your
life or your animal's life. But we talked about holistic
alternatives holistic veterinarians in particular. You know, there's a wonderful
(00:55):
healing way to improve the lives of your dogs and
your cats and your their animals, help them obtain relaxing
and holistic treatments and approach, and that's by finding a
holistic veterinarian. Now, holistic veterinarian is a veterinarian like any
other veterinarian. They receive the same training and have the
same credentials as a traditional veterinarian. So they're DVMS like
(01:19):
any other veterinarian. But the main difference is they continue
their education by receiving certification and additional holistic modalities. Now
these are things like they provide chiropractic care for your animals, acupuncture.
They will recommend supplements instead of medications or in addition
to medications. They'll talk to you about nutrition, wholesome nutrition
(01:41):
for your animal. They offer pet massage, acupressure, acupuncture as
I mentioned before, so a whole host of alternatives that
can either supplement whatever a traditional veterinarian would offer for
your pet, to provide healing and provide a great relaxation
for your animal, or actually as an additional complement to
(02:03):
the whole purpose. So I always recommend having a holistic
veterinarian on hand, either as your main veterinarian or as
a secondary veterinarian. Now, Holstic veterinary medicine therefore refers you
to the treatment of the whole organism rather than the
treatment of an individual body part or simpler to removal
of the symptoms. So they're going to be looking for
(02:23):
the whole purpose how they can treat your animal's wholeness,
not only for a particular illness or an injury, but
actually have a whole, complete life by introducing these holistic
alternatives and modalities. So to find out more about holistic
veterinarians and the various modalities that are considered holistic, and
to find one in your area where you're living, please
go to my blog on pet Life Radio. Click on
(02:46):
the Animal Rights blog at petlifradio dot com and from
there you can click to a link that will lead
you to the AHVMA website which is called Holistic Vetlist
dot com and you can type in your zip code
and it will help you locate the nearest holistic veterinarian
in your area. So I think it's a great alternative.
I always recommend at least having a host of veterinarian
(03:07):
in addition to your traditional veterinarian look for some more
holistic and natural approaches to having your animal have a
great life. So check it out. Go to the Animal
Rights blog on petlifradio dot com and learn more about it.
So we're gonna go into a break here briefly, but
everybody hanging tight. We're gonna be back with Glenn Plaskin
to talk about Katie up and down the hall. You're
listening to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio.
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Speaker 2 (06:17):
Welcome back, Welcome back to Animal rights on pet Life Radio.
Joining me now is Glenn Plaskin, who, in addition to
being the author of Katie Up and Down the Hall,
is also a veteran journalist a celebrity interviewer. Which will
let Glenn talk about all the great people he's interviewed
over the years. He's written numerous numerous columns and has
appeared in many well known newspapers and magazines. Glenn has
(06:38):
also appeared multiple times on television on shows like Oprah,
Today's Show, Larry King Live. He's everywhere. He's a great
guy to talk to you, and we're gonna talk definitely
about this book, Katie Up and Down the Hall. So
Glenn Plaskin, Welcome to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio.
Speaker 9 (06:51):
Good afternoon, How are you today?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I'm doing fantastic. How about yourself?
Speaker 9 (06:55):
And Happy New Year? Do you both?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Happy New Year? Can believe it? It's twenty eleven. It's
and you know I haven't made a mistake in writing
a check or type in an email by putting twenty eleven.
I did have a good friend of mine on Year's
Day send me a text wish me a happy twenty twelve.
Speaker 9 (07:11):
So it's a little ahead of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
A little head of the game. I don't know if
she's just writing this year off and looking forward to
next or not, but I think it's a little too
early to do that. It's going to be a great year.
Speaker 9 (07:21):
I always get used to the new year, and by
the end of the year, I'm all ready and then
of course now here we are. It's an odd number year,
but hopefully it'll be a good one for everybody.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, I think it will. I think there's some great
stuff going on. So we want to talk about all
the great stuff happening in your life as well, but
in particular when I talk about this wonderful, wonderful book,
Katie Up and Down the Hall. So tell us a
little bit about Katie Up and Down the Hall and
what prompted you to write it.
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Well, the book is about my dog, Katie, who's a
Cocker Spaniel. I never expected to ever write a book
about either my life or about my dog, but something
really miraculous happened. It first appeared as an article and
Family Circle magazine. And what the story is really about.
It's about a little boy who has no mom, but
(08:06):
he has a dad. And then further down the hallway
where we live here in New York City and Battery
Park City, which is right across the street from the
World Trade Center. We live in this thirty five story
high rise. So on one end of the hallways this
little boy and his dad, and in the middle of
the hallway is an eighty five year old woman and
her husband, and then on the other end is me
(08:26):
and Katie. And over a period of fifteen years, the
book traces our many adventures from Hollywood high times to
the tragic days of nine to eleven, from accidents and
accidents of fate, to physical illness, to great moments of
happiness and times of great sadness and loss. So it's
(08:48):
a very emotional, dramatic story and that's basically what it's about.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And I think the topic is fascinating as well, because unfortunately,
in today's society, and I'm sure it's that way where
you're at, we often do get to know our neighbors.
We live by them for years and years and years,
and unlike I know the days when I was growing up,
where everybody knew their neighbors, nowadays we're lucky just to
wave high and say hello.
Speaker 9 (09:11):
Well you're right in fact, isn't it ironic? That in
an age when we have Twitter and Facebook and computers
and email, all of these technologies are supposed to bring
us closer and make us in better communication. But in
many ways of those things sometimes alienate us and isolate us.
And I believe that your family is not just your
(09:32):
biological family, but it can be your surrogate family of
anything you want it to be. It can be old
and young, it can be canine, human, it can be
your neighbors. And I always tell people, if you just
open your eyes and walk outside your door, all the
people around you have the potential of becoming members of
(09:53):
your family. Somebody who I interviewed once told me that
proximity is the messenger of fate, meaning whoever you're close
to geographically is so often the people you'd become emotionally
close to. And in my case, each one of us
along this long hallway was able to fulfill a need.
After all, the little boy had no mom and no grandparents,
(10:14):
so he found a grandmother in Pearl, who was the
heroine of the book, and she had never been able
to have children. So here it is so late in life,
in her eighties, and she was finally able to have
a child in a way. And my dog, of course, Katie,
was always ready for action of any kind, and she
would race up and down the hallway with that little
(10:36):
boy Ryan and have a ball. In fact, the reason
I called it Katie up and down the hall is
the hallway becomes like a metaphor for the connection between
those three apartments. She would literally push open the doors.
We would leave our doors open and she'd push them
open with her paws, and she'd go in one apartment
to herd the people in that apartment down the hall
(10:57):
into the other one for dinner or for whatever we
were doing. So the dog actually was the you could
call her the mistress of ceremonies.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
And bringing everybody together.
Speaker 9 (11:09):
Well, you know, dogs had that ability, and she had
her own needs which were for every dog wants companionship
and fun and recreation, and all of us together were
able to give her something that one of us alone
could never do.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Absolutely, you know, And I think it's a key point,
you know, when you think about it, seems so simple.
A dog brought everybody together. But you know, like we'd
said before, there's a good chance that you probably wouldn't
have known those people were not known them very well.
At least or knew that they needed a family for
the little boy, or grandmother for the little boy, et cetera.
Speaker 9 (11:40):
And maybe it was because Katie got so much attention
that she became quite a remarkable little dog. I mean,
she was super smart. One day, she was watching television
and she would watch how Pearl would change channels with
a remote. And on another day I found her literally
taking her paw and tapping the remote control to change
(12:00):
the TV channel. And she got to the point where
she could actually do it. And for some reason, she'd
always stop at the food channel, of course, and she
would watch me type at my computer keyboard, and one
day I found her up on my desk chair knocking
her paws up against the keyboard and when it became
a game where I would make the font like seventy
(12:20):
two points, you know, really big, and she would actually
watch herself type. And she also accompanied me on many
of my celebrity interviews. She was a great little icebreaker.
I would take her to oh I took her to
Bette Midler's for an interview, Peter Jennings, Catherine Hepburn, Sarah Fawcett,
Avanna Trump. She went all over the place with me,
(12:42):
mostly to California, and I found that a dog was
really an equalizer, you know. You I would often be
nervous before I would be interviewing these famous people. And
there's a chapter in the book called Prancing with the Stars,
and it's about Katie's adventures with these famous people.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, and you know, when you look at the grand
scope of that, you know, yes, it was fun to
have Katie there. They enjoyed her, You enjoyed her. She
was a great ice breaker, but you know she actually
helped you do your work.
Speaker 9 (13:11):
Well, yes, I found it enjoyable to have a dog.
I would take her to the office and she would
just sit near me. You know, it's been proven that
animals do reduce anxiety and stress. They lower your blood pressure,
they increase the endorphin level, they slow the pulse. That's
why dogs are used as therapy dogs. And dogs are
really great not only companions, but they do have a
(13:33):
physiological effect on their owners and probably vice versa. So
I was very grateful to have a canine companion, which
is sometimes more relaxing than having a human companion.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Oftentiys, we're relaxing, absolutely.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
For stylers.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
They can't talk.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
That's right, that's right. Yeah, and my wife's not in
the studio right now, so I can say those things.
All right. Fantastic, every we're talking to Glenn Plaskin here.
We're going to take a commercial break to thank our sponsors.
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Speaker 2 (17:21):
Cob Okay, welcome back, Welcome back to animal rights on
pet Life Radio. When you're talking to Glenn Plaskin in
particular about his book Katie Up and Down the Hall,
The true story of how one dog turned five neighbors
into a family, you know, Glenn, I want to ask
you this book. It's such a touching story, it's great
(17:42):
lessons in here. What other plans do you have for
the book? Are there additional books coming out or is
there a movie in the works.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Possibly, Well, the book is going to be coming out
in paperback next September. We're still doing events. We had
some great events this fall. We had a launch party
hosted by Calvin Klein and but like Judge Judy were
at the party, and then we had a Barnes and
Noble book reading February fourteenth. We're having a Borders book
reading and my agent has been in the process of
(18:11):
selling it as a movie. And one reason why is
because the book really isn't just about a dog. It
would be kind of boring if it was just about
a dog's you know, running up and down a hall.
That's not what it's really about. It's about the relationships
that developed over a period of sixteen years between my
dog and her older friend Pearl, between my dog and
(18:34):
her husband Arthur, between the dog and the little boy Ryan,
and so many things happen over those years. As you know,
people come, and they go, and they get sick, and
without giving away what happens in the book, one of
the most dramatic moments are the days of nine to eleven.
As you know, we only live a couple hundred yards
(18:54):
away from the World Trade Center, and on that particular
day we were all home. There's three or four chapters
in the book that talk about what happened on that day,
which was of course difficult for everyone.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Absolutely absolutely, and I think the message is true. I
mean it's for me, having a great, cute book about
a funny animal that does funny things is good enough
for me. But then you tie in the overall message
of how you know, one dog we can have a
great life with, and in addition, bring together all the neighbors,
all the people that have now become our family. And
how many people do you know nowadays that you communicate
(19:28):
with that you communicate with fifteen years ago.
Speaker 9 (19:32):
Well, it's really kind of a love story. I remember
one of the vignettes that's in the book that I
like most. There comes a point in the story where
I get physically sick with a back issue, and I'm
literally unable to walk, and my friend Pearl, who was
a good cook, would have picnics on my bed, and
attending these picnics would be, of course, my dog and
(19:52):
the little boy would race in from school and we
would all eat in the bedroom. We're on the bed together.
That was just one little vignette. Imagine if you didn't
have a dog, or you didn't have people right down
the hall to help you. You might have a mother
or a father, or a brother or a sister, but
they may not be in the same city. But in
this book, you know, we made a family from what
(20:15):
started as strangers, and then we became friends, neighbors, and
ultimately a family. And when any of us have difficulty
in the story, the other ones rally around and help
the other ones get through it.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Absolutely. And you'd mentioned a little bit earlier about you
know the healing effects of animals, and I would have
to say, you could say that Katie helped you heal
from having that back injury.
Speaker 9 (20:38):
Oh. Yes, After there comes a point in this story
where I lose my job for a while, I lose
my health, and I'm really quite depressed. And it was
during that few year period that I think my love
for my dog became even greater, because up until that point,
I was so consumed with my career and so busy
(21:01):
that I don't think I fully appreciated her ability to love.
But once I spent more and more time with her,
you know, I really do believe that dogs have souls.
Just look into their eyes. They may not be able
to speak, but they definitely have intuitions and feelings and
reactions to everything. And I think that Katie's sensitivity to
(21:25):
not only me, but she was especially good friends with
the older you were, the more she liked you. If
you were eighty, that was good, if you were ninety,
that was better. And so she had a whole coterie
of these eighty and ninety year old friends that she
would go out with every night along the Hudson River
here and I would sometimes be riding my bike, and
(21:45):
my dog would be with my friend Pearl, the older woman,
And there was my dog sitting on a wheelchair with
a woman who couldn't walk, looking out at the Hudson River,
at the sun setting, happy and contented as could be,
surrounded by her older friends.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
There you go, yeah, and I totally agree with you.
They definitely have souls. They have that intuition, They know
what to do, they know when to do it, and
I do believe they are the great healers and great
teachers in our lives.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
They know when you're in pain. There's one point in
the story where my mother loses her husband and my
dog climbs up on my mother's chest and just sleeps
against her and licks her face, and somehow she senses
that my mother's in pain and that she needs comforting. So,
you know, that's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Absolutely absolutely. Now I know you have a new girl
in your life, new Cocker Spaniel named Lucy.
Speaker 9 (22:35):
Yes, she's actually in my arms at this moment.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
There you go, helping you do that work, or at
least waiting for the next treat. One of the two.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
Lucy is ten months old. She's completely different than Katie's
Katie was not crazy about other dogs. Truthfully speaking, that's
probably my fault. If I could give any advice to
dog owners with puppies from eight or ten weeks on,
get your dog outside playing with other dogs, because that's
something I didn't do with Katie was an inside kind
(23:05):
of human dog. But Lucy loves other dogs. She's highly athletic.
It doesn't matter whether they're big or small. The other night,
there was a ninety five pound Alaskan Husky and she
got a hold of his tail and this dog was
whirling her around and she was literally in the air
and wouldn't let go. She thought it was fun, and
she's a very smart dog. She's also a blonde haired
(23:29):
Cocker Spaniel, but she is different in personality than Katie.
She's probably more independent and more athletic.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There you go. Obviously, you have a fondness for Cocker Spaniels,
just like I have a fondness for Schnauzers because I've
got my boys in my life. But did you do
a lot of research about Cocker Spaniels before deciding bringing
that particular breed in or was it just a connection
that you had with them?
Speaker 9 (23:54):
No, As I explained in the book. Actually the thing
that got me interested in Cocker spaniels were too things.
It was mostly those long ears. I love these long,
tendulous ears, and I talk about the ears in the book,
and it's also there's something soulful about those eyes. They're
usually brown. But it was mostly the ears. And the
(24:17):
size was a good size for me, around twenty five
pounds or so, and so I just kind of fell
into it. Although I you know, I'm fond of all dogs,
but cocker spaniels were just something that I kind of
fell into. And they're smart. They're probably not as smart
as I hear that German shepherds and terriers what are
(24:37):
those called, Jack Russell terriers are supposed to be extremely
in Poodles are the three most intelligent. But of course
we all think our dog is the smartest exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I think most of us would. I think most of
us would.
Speaker 9 (24:50):
Katie was certainly much smarter than any other dog in
the world.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
But that's right, not only by the things that she did,
but also, you know, just her overall. She knew that
was important to bring everybody together, and that's a great
legacy to leave behind.
Speaker 9 (25:03):
And by the way, if any of your listeners would
enjoy seeing some pictures of Katie. We created a book trailer.
It's like a little motion picture preview, and if you
go to my website, which is katiebook dot com, just
click on a button that says watch the trailer and
it captures in four minutes the essence of the story.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Absolutely, So everybody go to katiebook dot com, k T
I E b o ok dot com, check out the book,
check out the trailer for sure. It's great website, great
and obviously a great book. Now, one thing we mentioned earlier,
Obviously you have interviewed a ton of celebrities in your life,
and obviously some of them have graced the cover of
this book, people like Joan Rivers and Judge Judy, Mariah Carey,
(25:47):
Anthony Robbins, Betty White, a whole host of them. Does
any of them remind you of Katie?
Speaker 9 (25:57):
Well, I wouldn't want to compare a celebrity with dog.
Although some of them may be doggish. You know, most
of the people who endorsed my book and read it
are dog lovers, like the novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. She
is a great dog lover. Joan Rivers loves dogs, Mariah
Carey is very devoted to her dogs. Betty White, of course,
(26:20):
is known as a great dog lover. And all of
these people I've interviewed over the years about their movies
or TV shows or their lives. I never expected that
years later I would come back to them and ask
them for a favor, which was will you read my
book and will you write me something about it? But
I can't tell you how really touching it was that
(26:42):
people would take the time to read the book and
to genuinely get into it. You know, Judge Judy loves
dogs and she was at the launch party, and Calvin
Klein has two dogs, and it's just a dog eat
dog world out there.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
It is nice, heartwarming. And when you get authors and
other professional celebrities, etc. Not only need to give you
endorsement because that helps, but they took the time to
actually to read the book and give an honest comment
and commitment to the book, And it just shows you
how great the book. Katie Up and Down the Hall
is well.
Speaker 9 (27:15):
I think there's something in if you look at the
cover of the book, look at Katie's face, there's something
in those eyes that's just very gripping and compelling. This
dog had a huge heart. I mean, if you saw
the way she behaved with her eighty five year old
to ninety year old friend Pearl, it was really amazing.
I mean, when Pearl later in the story begins to
(27:37):
get older and more frail, Katie does more for her
than any doctor could ever do. So there's something about
the story because I get letters from people all the
time that are unsolicited and they tell me I was
crying or this reminded me of my dog, or my
grandmother or my grandson. So in the end, it's not
(27:58):
really about dog only. It's about life. It's about all
of the relationships that we have with our people who
are younger and older, and who are biologically family and
who are closest friends. It takes in all the connections
that we have that really makes life most meaningful, you.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Know, absolutely, And it's a fantastic message and everybody can
check it out. Get a copy of the book, check
out the website katiebook dot com. Glenn. As we're wrapping
it up here, is any other projects or anything else
that we need to let the listeners know about or
how to keep a track of all the wonderful things
you're doing.
Speaker 9 (28:33):
Well. Another thing you might enjoy doing is if you
go on Facebook, you can either type in my name
Glenn Plaskin or you can go to Katie Up and
Down the Hall. But if you type in my name,
I'm beginning a new book which has me going on
a series of adventures. You know, in life, we all
have things that we wish we could do, but either
fear or circumstance always holds us back. And the new
(28:55):
book is about having me do ninety things in ninety
days that I'm afraid to do. Great for me.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Everybody grab your rosary for Glenn and to ask well,
we'll be looking for that book. Keep us posted on that.
We'd love to know about all about that book as well,
and have you back on to talk to us kain.
Speaker 9 (29:18):
Oh, thanks, and I wish you a happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Same here, we've been talking to Glenn Plaskin, author of
Katie Up and Down the Hall. Check it out at
katiebook dot com. Glenn, thanks for joining Animal Rights on
Pet Life Radio. Well, we're coming to the end of
the show today. I'd like to thank everyone for listening
to Animal Rights on Pet Life Radio. I also like
to thank Glenn Plaskin again for being on my show today,
and big thank you to our sponsors and producers for
(29:42):
making the show possible. To find out more about me,
timlink and other podcasts that I have done on animal
rights and to check out my blog, go to petlifradio
dot com and click on the blog animal Rights. Read
my blogs and download also some of the shows as well,
and while you're there, make sure you check out all
of the other hosts and shows on pet Life Radio.
(30:03):
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for the show,
please email them to me at timatpetlifradio dot com. It's
Tim at petlifradio dot com. Be glad to answer any
questions you've got, entertain any comments you have. If you
have any show ideas or guests you'd like to see on,
we'll do our very best to get them on board.
So until next time, write a great story about the
animals in your life, share it on a blog, article,
(30:26):
or book, and who knows, you may be the next
guest on animal rights on pet Life Radio. Thanks for joining.
Have a great day.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlifradio
dot com.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So do can do
You're listening to Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio. I'm your host,
Tim Link. Thank you for joining us today. My guest
today is going to be Glenn Plaskin. You know, we're
talking with us today about recently released book Katie Up
and Down the Hall, a true story of how one
dog turned five neighbors into a family, which is a
true story about Glenn's own dog, Katie and how she
(00:31):
basically brought five neighbors together. So we're going be talking
to Glenn about Katie Up and Down the Hall here
in just a moment. But first I want to talk
to you a little bit about it. You know I
always like giving you helpful hints and tips and stories. Well,
get a little tip for you today. You may already
know about it, You may already have one in your
life or your animal's life. But we talked about holistic
alternatives holistic veterinarians in particular. You know, there's a wonderful
(00:55):
healing way to improve the lives of your dogs and
your cats and your their animals, help them obtain relaxing
and holistic treatments and approach, and that's by finding a
holistic veterinarian. Now, holistic veterinarian is a veterinarian like any
other veterinarian. They receive the same training and have the
same credentials as a traditional veterinarian. So they're DVMS like
(01:19):
any other veterinarian. But the main difference is they continue
their education by receiving certification and additional holistic modalities. Now
these are things like they provide chiropractic care for your animals, acupuncture.
They will recommend supplements instead of medications or in addition
to medications. They'll talk to you about nutrition, wholesome nutrition
(01:41):
for your animal. They offer pet massage, acupressure, acupuncture as
I mentioned before, so a whole host of alternatives that
can either supplement whatever a traditional veterinarian would offer for
your pet, to provide healing and provide a great relaxation
for your animal, or actually as an additional complement to
(02:03):
the whole purpose. So I always recommend having a holistic
veterinarian on hand, either as your main veterinarian or as
a secondary veterinarian. Now, Holstic veterinary medicine therefore refers you
to the treatment of the whole organism rather than the
treatment of an individual body part or simpler to removal
of the symptoms. So they're going to be looking for
(02:23):
the whole purpose how they can treat your animal's wholeness,
not only for a particular illness or an injury, but
actually have a whole, complete life by introducing these holistic
alternatives and modalities. So to find out more about holistic
veterinarians and the various modalities that are considered holistic, and
to find one in your area where you're living, please
go to my blog on pet Life Radio. Click on
(02:46):
the Animal Rights blog at petlifradio dot com and from
there you can click to a link that will lead
you to the AHVMA website which is called Holistic Vetlist
dot com and you can type in your zip code
and it will help you locate the nearest holistic veterinarian
in your area. So I think it's a great alternative.
I always recommend at least having a host of veterinarian
(03:07):
in addition to your traditional veterinarian look for some more
holistic and natural approaches to having your animal have a
great life. So check it out. Go to the Animal
Rights blog on petlifradio dot com and learn more about it.
So we're gonna go into a break here briefly, but
everybody hanging tight. We're gonna be back with Glenn Plaskin
to talk about Katie up and down the hall. You're
listening to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio.
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Speaker 2 (06:17):
Welcome back, Welcome back to Animal rights on pet Life Radio.
Joining me now is Glenn Plaskin, who, in addition to
being the author of Katie Up and Down the Hall,
is also a veteran journalist a celebrity interviewer. Which will
let Glenn talk about all the great people he's interviewed
over the years. He's written numerous numerous columns and has
appeared in many well known newspapers and magazines. Glenn has
(06:38):
also appeared multiple times on television on shows like Oprah,
Today's Show, Larry King Live. He's everywhere. He's a great
guy to talk to you, and we're gonna talk definitely
about this book, Katie Up and Down the Hall. So
Glenn Plaskin, Welcome to Animal Rights on pet Life Radio.
Speaker 9 (06:51):
Good afternoon, How are you today?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I'm doing fantastic. How about yourself?
Speaker 9 (06:55):
And Happy New Year? Do you both?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Happy New Year? Can believe it? It's twenty eleven. It's
and you know I haven't made a mistake in writing
a check or type in an email by putting twenty eleven.
I did have a good friend of mine on Year's
Day send me a text wish me a happy twenty twelve.
Speaker 9 (07:11):
So it's a little ahead of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
A little head of the game. I don't know if
she's just writing this year off and looking forward to
next or not, but I think it's a little too
early to do that. It's going to be a great year.
Speaker 9 (07:21):
I always get used to the new year, and by
the end of the year, I'm all ready and then
of course now here we are. It's an odd number year,
but hopefully it'll be a good one for everybody.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, I think it will. I think there's some great
stuff going on. So we want to talk about all
the great stuff happening in your life as well, but
in particular when I talk about this wonderful, wonderful book,
Katie Up and Down the Hall. So tell us a
little bit about Katie Up and Down the Hall and
what prompted you to write it.
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Well, the book is about my dog, Katie, who's a
Cocker Spaniel. I never expected to ever write a book
about either my life or about my dog, but something
really miraculous happened. It first appeared as an article and
Family Circle magazine. And what the story is really about.
It's about a little boy who has no mom, but
(08:06):
he has a dad. And then further down the hallway
where we live here in New York City and Battery
Park City, which is right across the street from the
World Trade Center. We live in this thirty five story
high rise. So on one end of the hallways this
little boy and his dad, and in the middle of
the hallway is an eighty five year old woman and
her husband, and then on the other end is me
(08:26):
and Katie. And over a period of fifteen years, the
book traces our many adventures from Hollywood high times to
the tragic days of nine to eleven, from accidents and
accidents of fate, to physical illness, to great moments of
happiness and times of great sadness and loss. So it's
(08:48):
a very emotional, dramatic story and that's basically what it's about.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And I think the topic is fascinating as well, because unfortunately,
in today's society, and I'm sure it's that way where
you're at, we often do get to know our neighbors.
We live by them for years and years and years,
and unlike I know the days when I was growing up,
where everybody knew their neighbors, nowadays we're lucky just to
wave high and say hello.
Speaker 9 (09:11):
Well you're right in fact, isn't it ironic? That in
an age when we have Twitter and Facebook and computers
and email, all of these technologies are supposed to bring
us closer and make us in better communication. But in
many ways of those things sometimes alienate us and isolate us.
And I believe that your family is not just your
(09:32):
biological family, but it can be your surrogate family of
anything you want it to be. It can be old
and young, it can be canine, human, it can be
your neighbors. And I always tell people, if you just
open your eyes and walk outside your door, all the
people around you have the potential of becoming members of
(09:53):
your family. Somebody who I interviewed once told me that
proximity is the messenger of fate, meaning whoever you're close
to geographically is so often the people you'd become emotionally
close to. And in my case, each one of us
along this long hallway was able to fulfill a need.
After all, the little boy had no mom and no grandparents,
(10:14):
so he found a grandmother in Pearl, who was the
heroine of the book, and she had never been able
to have children. So here it is so late in life,
in her eighties, and she was finally able to have
a child in a way. And my dog, of course, Katie,
was always ready for action of any kind, and she
would race up and down the hallway with that little
(10:36):
boy Ryan and have a ball. In fact, the reason
I called it Katie up and down the hall is
the hallway becomes like a metaphor for the connection between
those three apartments. She would literally push open the doors.
We would leave our doors open and she'd push them
open with her paws, and she'd go in one apartment
to herd the people in that apartment down the hall
(10:57):
into the other one for dinner or for whatever we
were doing. So the dog actually was the you could
call her the mistress of ceremonies.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
And bringing everybody together.
Speaker 9 (11:09):
Well, you know, dogs had that ability, and she had
her own needs which were for every dog wants companionship
and fun and recreation, and all of us together were
able to give her something that one of us alone
could never do.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Absolutely, you know, And I think it's a key point,
you know, when you think about it, seems so simple.
A dog brought everybody together. But you know, like we'd
said before, there's a good chance that you probably wouldn't
have known those people were not known them very well.
At least or knew that they needed a family for
the little boy, or grandmother for the little boy, et cetera.
Speaker 9 (11:40):
And maybe it was because Katie got so much attention
that she became quite a remarkable little dog. I mean,
she was super smart. One day, she was watching television
and she would watch how Pearl would change channels with
a remote. And on another day I found her literally
taking her paw and tapping the remote control to change
(12:00):
the TV channel. And she got to the point where
she could actually do it. And for some reason, she'd
always stop at the food channel, of course, and she
would watch me type at my computer keyboard, and one
day I found her up on my desk chair knocking
her paws up against the keyboard and when it became
a game where I would make the font like seventy
(12:20):
two points, you know, really big, and she would actually
watch herself type. And she also accompanied me on many
of my celebrity interviews. She was a great little icebreaker.
I would take her to oh I took her to
Bette Midler's for an interview, Peter Jennings, Catherine Hepburn, Sarah Fawcett,
Avanna Trump. She went all over the place with me,
(12:42):
mostly to California, and I found that a dog was
really an equalizer, you know. You I would often be
nervous before I would be interviewing these famous people. And
there's a chapter in the book called Prancing with the Stars,
and it's about Katie's adventures with these famous people.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, and you know, when you look at the grand
scope of that, you know, yes, it was fun to
have Katie there. They enjoyed her, You enjoyed her. She
was a great ice breaker, but you know she actually
helped you do your work.
Speaker 9 (13:11):
Well, yes, I found it enjoyable to have a dog.
I would take her to the office and she would
just sit near me. You know, it's been proven that
animals do reduce anxiety and stress. They lower your blood pressure,
they increase the endorphin level, they slow the pulse. That's
why dogs are used as therapy dogs. And dogs are
really great not only companions, but they do have a
(13:33):
physiological effect on their owners and probably vice versa. So
I was very grateful to have a canine companion, which
is sometimes more relaxing than having a human companion.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Oftentiys, we're relaxing, absolutely.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
For stylers.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
They can't talk.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
That's right, that's right. Yeah, and my wife's not in
the studio right now, so I can say those things.
All right. Fantastic, every we're talking to Glenn Plaskin here.
We're going to take a commercial break to thank our sponsors.
But everybody, stay tuned. You're listening to Animal Rights on
pet Life Radio.
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Speaker 2 (17:21):
Cob Okay, welcome back, Welcome back to animal rights on
pet Life Radio. When you're talking to Glenn Plaskin in
particular about his book Katie Up and Down the Hall,
The true story of how one dog turned five neighbors
into a family, you know, Glenn, I want to ask
you this book. It's such a touching story, it's great
(17:42):
lessons in here. What other plans do you have for
the book? Are there additional books coming out or is
there a movie in the works.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Possibly, Well, the book is going to be coming out
in paperback next September. We're still doing events. We had
some great events this fall. We had a launch party
hosted by Calvin Klein and but like Judge Judy were
at the party, and then we had a Barnes and
Noble book reading February fourteenth. We're having a Borders book
reading and my agent has been in the process of
(18:11):
selling it as a movie. And one reason why is
because the book really isn't just about a dog. It
would be kind of boring if it was just about
a dog's you know, running up and down a hall.
That's not what it's really about. It's about the relationships
that developed over a period of sixteen years between my
dog and her older friend Pearl, between my dog and
(18:34):
her husband Arthur, between the dog and the little boy Ryan,
and so many things happen over those years. As you know,
people come, and they go, and they get sick, and
without giving away what happens in the book, one of
the most dramatic moments are the days of nine to eleven.
As you know, we only live a couple hundred yards
(18:54):
away from the World Trade Center, and on that particular
day we were all home. There's three or four chapters
in the book that talk about what happened on that day,
which was of course difficult for everyone.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Absolutely absolutely, and I think the message is true. I
mean it's for me, having a great, cute book about
a funny animal that does funny things is good enough
for me. But then you tie in the overall message
of how you know, one dog we can have a
great life with, and in addition, bring together all the neighbors,
all the people that have now become our family. And
how many people do you know nowadays that you communicate
(19:28):
with that you communicate with fifteen years ago.
Speaker 9 (19:32):
Well, it's really kind of a love story. I remember
one of the vignettes that's in the book that I
like most. There comes a point in the story where
I get physically sick with a back issue, and I'm
literally unable to walk, and my friend Pearl, who was
a good cook, would have picnics on my bed, and
attending these picnics would be, of course, my dog and
(19:52):
the little boy would race in from school and we
would all eat in the bedroom. We're on the bed together.
That was just one little vignette. Imagine if you didn't
have a dog, or you didn't have people right down
the hall to help you. You might have a mother
or a father, or a brother or a sister, but
they may not be in the same city. But in
this book, you know, we made a family from what
(20:15):
started as strangers, and then we became friends, neighbors, and
ultimately a family. And when any of us have difficulty
in the story, the other ones rally around and help
the other ones get through it.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Absolutely. And you'd mentioned a little bit earlier about you
know the healing effects of animals, and I would have
to say, you could say that Katie helped you heal
from having that back injury.
Speaker 9 (20:38):
Oh. Yes, After there comes a point in this story
where I lose my job for a while, I lose
my health, and I'm really quite depressed. And it was
during that few year period that I think my love
for my dog became even greater, because up until that point,
I was so consumed with my career and so busy
(21:01):
that I don't think I fully appreciated her ability to love.
But once I spent more and more time with her,
you know, I really do believe that dogs have souls.
Just look into their eyes. They may not be able
to speak, but they definitely have intuitions and feelings and
reactions to everything. And I think that Katie's sensitivity to
(21:25):
not only me, but she was especially good friends with
the older you were, the more she liked you. If
you were eighty, that was good, if you were ninety,
that was better. And so she had a whole coterie
of these eighty and ninety year old friends that she
would go out with every night along the Hudson River
here and I would sometimes be riding my bike, and
(21:45):
my dog would be with my friend Pearl, the older woman,
And there was my dog sitting on a wheelchair with
a woman who couldn't walk, looking out at the Hudson River,
at the sun setting, happy and contented as could be,
surrounded by her older friends.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
There you go, yeah, and I totally agree with you.
They definitely have souls. They have that intuition, They know
what to do, they know when to do it, and
I do believe they are the great healers and great
teachers in our lives.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
They know when you're in pain. There's one point in
the story where my mother loses her husband and my
dog climbs up on my mother's chest and just sleeps
against her and licks her face, and somehow she senses
that my mother's in pain and that she needs comforting. So,
you know, that's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Absolutely absolutely. Now I know you have a new girl
in your life, new Cocker Spaniel named Lucy.
Speaker 9 (22:35):
Yes, she's actually in my arms at this moment.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
There you go, helping you do that work, or at
least waiting for the next treat. One of the two.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
Lucy is ten months old. She's completely different than Katie's
Katie was not crazy about other dogs. Truthfully speaking, that's
probably my fault. If I could give any advice to
dog owners with puppies from eight or ten weeks on,
get your dog outside playing with other dogs, because that's
something I didn't do with Katie was an inside kind
(23:05):
of human dog. But Lucy loves other dogs. She's highly athletic.
It doesn't matter whether they're big or small. The other night,
there was a ninety five pound Alaskan Husky and she
got a hold of his tail and this dog was
whirling her around and she was literally in the air
and wouldn't let go. She thought it was fun, and
she's a very smart dog. She's also a blonde haired
(23:29):
Cocker Spaniel, but she is different in personality than Katie.
She's probably more independent and more athletic.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There you go. Obviously, you have a fondness for Cocker Spaniels,
just like I have a fondness for Schnauzers because I've
got my boys in my life. But did you do
a lot of research about Cocker Spaniels before deciding bringing
that particular breed in or was it just a connection
that you had with them?
Speaker 9 (23:54):
No, As I explained in the book. Actually the thing
that got me interested in Cocker spaniels were too things.
It was mostly those long ears. I love these long,
tendulous ears, and I talk about the ears in the book,
and it's also there's something soulful about those eyes. They're
usually brown. But it was mostly the ears. And the
(24:17):
size was a good size for me, around twenty five
pounds or so, and so I just kind of fell
into it. Although I you know, I'm fond of all dogs,
but cocker spaniels were just something that I kind of
fell into. And they're smart. They're probably not as smart
as I hear that German shepherds and terriers what are
(24:37):
those called, Jack Russell terriers are supposed to be extremely
in Poodles are the three most intelligent. But of course
we all think our dog is the smartest exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I think most of us would. I think most of
us would.
Speaker 9 (24:50):
Katie was certainly much smarter than any other dog in
the world.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
But that's right, not only by the things that she did,
but also, you know, just her overall. She knew that
was important to bring everybody together, and that's a great
legacy to leave behind.
Speaker 9 (25:03):
And by the way, if any of your listeners would
enjoy seeing some pictures of Katie. We created a book trailer.
It's like a little motion picture preview, and if you
go to my website, which is katiebook dot com, just
click on a button that says watch the trailer and
it captures in four minutes the essence of the story.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Absolutely, So everybody go to katiebook dot com, k T
I E b o ok dot com, check out the book,
check out the trailer for sure. It's great website, great
and obviously a great book. Now, one thing we mentioned earlier,
Obviously you have interviewed a ton of celebrities in your life,
and obviously some of them have graced the cover of
this book, people like Joan Rivers and Judge Judy, Mariah Carey,
(25:47):
Anthony Robbins, Betty White, a whole host of them. Does
any of them remind you of Katie?
Speaker 9 (25:57):
Well, I wouldn't want to compare a celebrity with dog.
Although some of them may be doggish. You know, most
of the people who endorsed my book and read it
are dog lovers, like the novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. She
is a great dog lover. Joan Rivers loves dogs, Mariah
Carey is very devoted to her dogs. Betty White, of course,
(26:20):
is known as a great dog lover. And all of
these people I've interviewed over the years about their movies
or TV shows or their lives. I never expected that
years later I would come back to them and ask
them for a favor, which was will you read my
book and will you write me something about it? But
I can't tell you how really touching it was that
(26:42):
people would take the time to read the book and
to genuinely get into it. You know, Judge Judy loves
dogs and she was at the launch party, and Calvin
Klein has two dogs, and it's just a dog eat
dog world out there.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
It is nice, heartwarming. And when you get authors and
other professional celebrities, etc. Not only need to give you
endorsement because that helps, but they took the time to
actually to read the book and give an honest comment
and commitment to the book, And it just shows you
how great the book. Katie Up and Down the Hall
is well.
Speaker 9 (27:15):
I think there's something in if you look at the
cover of the book, look at Katie's face, there's something
in those eyes that's just very gripping and compelling. This
dog had a huge heart. I mean, if you saw
the way she behaved with her eighty five year old
to ninety year old friend Pearl, it was really amazing.
I mean, when Pearl later in the story begins to
(27:37):
get older and more frail, Katie does more for her
than any doctor could ever do. So there's something about
the story because I get letters from people all the
time that are unsolicited and they tell me I was
crying or this reminded me of my dog, or my
grandmother or my grandson. So in the end, it's not
(27:58):
really about dog only. It's about life. It's about all
of the relationships that we have with our people who
are younger and older, and who are biologically family and
who are closest friends. It takes in all the connections
that we have that really makes life most meaningful, you.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Know, absolutely, And it's a fantastic message and everybody can
check it out. Get a copy of the book, check
out the website katiebook dot com. Glenn. As we're wrapping
it up here, is any other projects or anything else
that we need to let the listeners know about or
how to keep a track of all the wonderful things
you're doing.
Speaker 9 (28:33):
Well. Another thing you might enjoy doing is if you
go on Facebook, you can either type in my name
Glenn Plaskin or you can go to Katie Up and
Down the Hall. But if you type in my name,
I'm beginning a new book which has me going on
a series of adventures. You know, in life, we all
have things that we wish we could do, but either
fear or circumstance always holds us back. And the new
(28:55):
book is about having me do ninety things in ninety
days that I'm afraid to do. Great for me.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Everybody grab your rosary for Glenn and to ask well,
we'll be looking for that book. Keep us posted on that.
We'd love to know about all about that book as well,
and have you back on to talk to us kain.
Speaker 9 (29:18):
Oh, thanks, and I wish you a happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Same here, we've been talking to Glenn Plaskin, author of
Katie Up and Down the Hall. Check it out at
katiebook dot com. Glenn, thanks for joining Animal Rights on
Pet Life Radio. Well, we're coming to the end of
the show today. I'd like to thank everyone for listening
to Animal Rights on Pet Life Radio. I also like
to thank Glenn Plaskin again for being on my show today,
and big thank you to our sponsors and producers for
(29:42):
making the show possible. To find out more about me,
timlink and other podcasts that I have done on animal
rights and to check out my blog, go to petlifradio
dot com and click on the blog animal Rights. Read
my blogs and download also some of the shows as well,
and while you're there, make sure you check out all
of the other hosts and shows on pet Life Radio.
(30:03):
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for the show,
please email them to me at timatpetlifradio dot com. It's
Tim at petlifradio dot com. Be glad to answer any
questions you've got, entertain any comments you have. If you
have any show ideas or guests you'd like to see on,
we'll do our very best to get them on board.
So until next time, write a great story about the
animals in your life, share it on a blog, article,
(30:26):
or book, and who knows, you may be the next
guest on animal rights on pet Life Radio. Thanks for joining.
Have a great day.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlifradio
dot com.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So do can do
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