I have just read with sadness that Katherine (Spud) Talbot-Ponsonby died in January last year. In 1994 Spud walked the coastline of Britain with her dog, Tess, sleeping in a beat-up motorhome. Her book about the experience, 'Two feet, four paws' is by far the best book about the walk, and was the direct inspiration for my own walk eight years later.
Her follow-up book, 'Small steps with heavy hooves' is an excellent and poignant description of her attempt to walk back to health after a cancer diagnosis. It has recently been reissued as 'Small Steps with Paws and Hooves'.
I never met Spud, but I had the honour to talk to her by phone on a couple of occasions. She was at all times charming, and answered my questions with sparkling good humour. I thoroughly recommend both of her books.
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2 comments:
I have just been lent the books and am thoroughly enjoying them, reminding me of my John O'Groats to Lands End walk in 2008. I am greatly saddened to hear that Spud is no longer with us, I am shocked, life was just beginning for her. My heart goes out to her family.
I’ve almost finished reading Two Feet Four Paws, a book I picked up in a charity shop and was left in the pile that is my endless book shelf for a good while until I could find time to read it. I
am shocked to read that Spud passed away in 2010 and even though I never met her in person I feel I did get to know her and Tess through her writing. Their trials and challenges on that extraordinary walk filled me with awe. What an inspiring young woman
and remarkable dog Tess. I sit here in tears that she has departed this world, a certain loss to the planet. Do read this book, Spud and Tess you were one of kind and you are not forgotten 🐾
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