On his blog this week, resident know-it-all Vance Lauderdale unveils his new 2009 calendar and unearths a scary old Goldsmith’s ad and a story about “Memphis’ Number One Hero Dog.”
About that dog, “Poochie”: One day [his owner] took Poochie with him to the Mississippi River, just above Memphis, to train him as a pointer. Just as they arrived at the banks, they encountered a tragedy: A group of men and boys who had foolishly tried to swim in the Mississippi were being pulled under by the strong current.
From a 1941 Commercial Appeal story: “Poochie didn’t know what it was all about, but he could recognize the screams of distress, so in he went. He grabbed a drowning boy by the hair and started for the bank. When he had nine-year-old Harold Smith in shallow water, he turned and went back.”
Read the rest of the story about Poochie and more here.