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#11-3 September 2024
Painting of Dogs by
Helga Sandburg
Sandburg’s Canine Friends in North Carolina
By John W. Quinley
Dear Readers,, The Sandburgs brought their
shaggy black cocker spaniel with them when they moved to North Carolina, and
soon added more canines. Their home now included miles of hiking trails around
lakes and up to Little Glassy and Big Glassy Mountain peaks. Granddaughter Paula
in her memoir, My Connemara,
writes, “The children and the dogs circle us, climbing up and down the rock
faces, as we climbed Big Glassy.” Paula also recalled a visit by a famous folk
singer with her dog: “Jean Ritchie coming through with a slender greyhound, Lady
Gray, seemed a wonder to me alongside my amiable black cocker, Hannah.” A Doberman Pinscher puppy, Lief, was brought home from
a trip to Florida, and for a while, Helga raised this breed commercially. Lief
was joined by a rescue dog from a local veterinarian—Christopher, a Great Dane.
Granddaughter Paula recalls that the family “became fond of him and of his
clownish way of climbing onto the leather sofa and stretching his lanky body its
full measure.” Christopher “was gentle, playful, and…Lief, accepted him with
grace.” The two were constantly at Helga’s side, accompanying her to town, the
barn, and the surrounding pastures as she cared for the Sandburgs’ herd of
goats. But this union was not to last. “It was incredible to see one day in the
autumn-blown buck pasture, a pattern of bodies strewn before her, necks broken
and bleeding—and Christopher still pursuing the few survivors.” The
grandchildren, John Carl and Paula, watched as Helga beat Christopher and locked
him up as punishment; the next day Christopher was returned to the veterinarian.
Granddaughter Paula recalls that “Lief who had watched the killings with a
puppy’s fascination, was punished, too, as if he had done the deed himself, so
afraid was Helga that he might be tempted to emulate what he had seen.” Sandburg understood the inherent potential of wildness that dogs inherit from their ancestor, the wolf, as well as the animalistic forces that reside in humans. He writes in “Wilderness”:
By 2020, it had been over 50 years since the Sandburg
dogs lived on the farm. But now, greater numbers of dogs are walked each day
along the same trails previously enjoyed by the Sandburg family. All sizes and
breeds come. Some folks visit the park only occasionally, but others bring their
dogs on a regular basis–a few so frequently that park staff and volunteers call
them by name.
Thanks for reading,
John Quinley is the author of
Discovering Carl
Sandburg: The Eclectic Life of an American Icon and is a former docent at
the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina.
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