Posted on 01/18/2010 6:48:30 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
A cat which became famous for catching the same bus every day for four years has been run over and killed - while crossing the road to catch its daily lift.
Crafty Casper died in a hit and run accident as he tried to board the No3 service.
He hopped on the bus around 10am every morning and sat on the back seat throughout its entire 11 mile route.
The freeloading Feline would travel around his home city of Plymouth, Devon, for up to an hour before arriving back at the same stop.
But after an estimated 20,000 miles on the bus Casper was killed crossing the road to catch his daily ride.
Devastated owner Susan Finden, 65, said whoever ran over her cat failed to stop and help him.
She said: 'Many people knew Casper, who loved everyone.
'He enjoyed the bus journeys. Sadly a motorist hit him and did not stop.
'Casper died from his injuries. He will be greatly missed - he was a much loved pet who had so much character.
'Thank you to all those who befriended him.'
During his regular trips the 12-year-old cat passed an historic dockyard and naval base, a city centre, several suburbs and a red light district.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
He crossed the Rainbow Bridge, doing what he loved to do.
Amen second it. RIP Casper. =^..^=
i know! & god bless him ...
he just loved the bus didn’t he?
He sure did!
There's a cat at Powell's Bookstore (known as the biggest bookstore in the United States, located in Pearl District of Portland, OR) who has made his home at Powell's Technical Bookstore, for a very long time, now.
The cat's name is "Fup"...
Fup, the Powell's Bookstore Cat, lived in the Technical Bookstore section, and had always been there for years and years. I remember when the Technical Bookstore was in a different location, on the same block as the main bookstore (before the major remodel) -- and Fup was only a little kitten at that time.
Fup would run and tear around the Technical Bookstore and race between the racks and up the sides of some as it tore around corners... :-)
As Fup grew up, it became slower as cats are known to do, but was always wandering around in the Powell's Technical Bookstore section, somewhere. I would often look for Fup when I came in there.
Fup's Home
And sometimes as I would be sitting down in the reading section, Fup would come sauntering by and I would pet Fup.
Fup has also published a few papers, from what I understand and had a business card at the store, too -- in case you wanted to call or write Fup... :-)
Here is an older News Release from Powell's bookstore about Fup, the cat... I guess Fup is still either on Sabbatical or in retirement, one or the other.
Alice Waters envious of Fup's foraging opportunities
JULY 8, 2002, PORTLAND, OR — Powells.com announced today that Fup, the longtime store cat at Powell's Books, has been granted an extended leave from her duties at the company.
Recent editions of the bookseller's online newsletter have alluded to Fup's imminent departure, but today's announcement is the first official statement issued by the company's corporate headquarters. Michael Powell, president and founder of the independent bookstore, admitted mixed emotions over the departure. "She deserves a vacation," Powell said, "and we hope she has the time of her life. But that doesn't mean we won't anxiously await her return."
A quarter of a million subscribers follow Fup's adventures via the company's email newsletter, which began documenting the cat's life in 1999. Michael Powell assured customers that PowellsBooks.news will continue to feature the cat in each edition, updating readers on her travels.
According to Mary Winzig, president of Powell's bargaining unit (ILWU Local 5), today's announcement had originally been scheduled for late June, but uncertainty regarding the permissible duration of Fup's leave under the company's existing union contract forced postponement of the news.
"The t's are crossed and the i's have been dotted," a pleased, if tired, Winzig announced this morning. "I think both sides had Fup's interests in mind."
In late May, PowellsBooks.news suggested that Fup could be leaving the store. Concerned subscribers responded with a flurry of email responses, worried that the leave might be permanent. Winzig insists that Fup will indeed return.
Recently, Fup's destination was revealed to be the hills east of the city.
Alice Waters, chef and founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant and author of Chez Panisse Fruit, expressed considerable envy at Fup's opportunity to forage from the rich local landscape. "She'll find there are many more edible plants out there than she could possibly imagine," Waters said. "I was making mental notes as I was walking in Portland, and I thought, 'Ah! Chestnut!' I saw wild fennel. I was thinking about dandelions. Particularly going out in the woods, there's likely to be some good wild mushrooms."
During Fup's absence, her sisters Ro and Clara will share store cat responsibilities. The interim role marks the first official store cat duties for each.
Today's announcement should put to rest speculation within the company that Fup's departure was involuntary, not a vacation but a suspension due to repeated violations of Powell's Time and Attendance policy. Both Powell and Winzig declined to comment on those rumors.
From humble storefront beginnings in 1971 on a derelict corner of northwest Portland, Oregon, Powell's Books has grown into one of the world's great bookstores, with seven locations in the Portland metropolitan area, and one of the book world's most successful dot-coms (www.powells.com), serving customers worldwide.
Powell's roots began in Chicago, where Michael Powell, as a University of Chicago graduate student, opened his first bookstore in 1970. Encouraged by friends and professors, including novelist Saul Bellow, Michael borrowed $3,000 to assume a lease on a bookstore. The venture proved so successful that he managed to repay the loan within two months. Michael's father Walter, a retired painting contractor, worked one summer with Michael in the Chicago store. He so enjoyed his experience that upon returning to Portland he opened his own used bookstore.
Walter swamped his original location by buying every marketable used book that came through the door, finally pushing the whole operation into a former car dealership. The old car dealership has undergone many transformations, and Powell's today looks little as it did when Walter opened his shop in the early '70s.
Michael joined Walter in 1979, creating a bookstore with a unique recipe that, though viewed as unorthodox, worked: Used and new, hardcover and paperback, all on the same shelf, open 365 days a year and staffed by knowledgeable and dedicated book lovers.
Michael says, "In the used book world, mixing paperbacks and hardbacks was not so much of a stretch, but when my dad had the idea of bringing in new books too, I had no sympathy. Used and new on the same shelf? It seemed crazy." However, Michael concludes, combining books "had synergy way beyond what we expected. If you put all the new books in one store and all the used books in another, each wouldn't get half the total business — they drive each other."
Six stores and several expansions later, Powell's went online in 1994, and experienced immediate success. Within two years, Powell's entire inventory was listed on the web.
Powell's distinctive synergy today underpins four full-service bookstores (Powell's City of Books, Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, Powell's on Hawthorne, and Powell's at PDX), two specialty stores (Powell's Technical Books and Powell's Books for Home and Garden), and Powells.com.
Powell's Books article from Wikipedia
Sad end to a good story. RIP, Casper.
who says there’s no such thing as magic?
He lived a good long life and is a great example of why the risk of being hit by a car is no reason to keep cats imprisoned indoors. But I’d be fine with imprisoning the jerk who hit him and just kept going.
Bless Casper’s little heart.
I used to go to the original Powell’s bookstore down in Chicago near the Univ. of Chicago campus, years ago. It had bookstore cats also. It was always fun going in there for a wonderful choice of used books, lots of them a bit out of the ordinary, more esoteric, and with great pricews. It was equally fun to watch the cats while wandering the bookstore (I am a cat lover, as well as a dog lover, as well as many other animals lover, and had two cats, one passed away, the other is right next to me on the bed). I have fond memories of Powell’s bookstore; wish it was closer to where I now live, but it was a dangerous place to go into, as you came out laden with book purchases. Couldn’t get out of the store unscathed.
Yes I think St. Thomas Aquinas held that animals indeed had souls and were able to testify for or against us on the Day of Judgment. It would seem then that they will be found in the Afterlife.
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