You talk to your dog, and most of the time it responds with obedience or with curious gestures when it does not understand you. Most importantly, your dog is there by your side when you need a "listener". Oh, if your dog could only talk to you. Well, here is a dog that does. If you are fortunate, you will at some point in your life have a pet dog that you can call your friend, and doubly fortunate if the dog can call you a friend. Spade, a black Labrador was that kind of dog. During the fourteen years of his life from a puppy to an elder adult, he truly was our family's best friend, as we were his best friends. You already love dogs or you would not have selected this book to read. In Pals Forever, Spade tells his story in his own words. Perhaps his recollections will cause you to reflect on the fond memories of a dog that was once your best friend, and to reflect on those long ago memories of you being his best friend. Join a black Labrador on his journey, and be reminded of the simple pleasures of raking leaves, only to play in the pile, and taking long walks just to see what might be stirring in the woods, or hunting upland game birds on a colorful warm autumn day. If you are not already convinced that having a dog will make you a better person, Spade will convince you.
About the Author: Richard L. Hamilton, the author of Shiloh to Durham Station, 18th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment: With Captain Robert S. McMichael's Civil War Letters (2011), Oh! Hast Thou Forgotten, Michigan Cavalry in the Civil War: The Gettysburg Campaign (book-2008, Audio version-2010), and The Plant: Oh Quality Where Art Thou (2009), and he is the co-editor of A Man From Montana by Freeman Halverson (2011). Richard is a retired General Motors Corporation manufacturing engineering manager who holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University (GMI), and MS degree in industrial supervision from Western Michigan University. He is a former assistant professor of engineering technology at Western Michigan University, and Director of Technology at Ferris State University. He has written three unpublished books concerning genealogy and biographies of his Hamilton-Patten family. In the Civil War re-enactor uniform of his ancestor, he gives presentations to libraries, historical societies, and civic clubs concerning the service of his maternal ancestor, Sgt. George T. Patten, who fought with Brigadier General George A. Custer in the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. His paternal ancestor, Pvt. Samuel M. Hamilton fought with General John Buford in the 1st Division U.S. Cavalry. Richard is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Sons of the Union Veterans: Michigan Department, Curtenius Guard Camp No. 17. He is also a Mayflower Society candidate as a descendent of John Alden and Priscilla Mullens.