Over 3 years ago I wrote my first column for the Charleston Gazette. It had no name…I did not get paid. It was because I had a story to write about a heartbreaking time in my family when my Dad had a heart attack…it was because I have always been able to express my feelings better with written words than with spoken ones. It was because I loved to write.
I was overwhelmed with the number of people who got in touch with me from this small collection of paragraphs. They had experienced similar heartache…they had lost loved ones…they had been harmed by the negligence of doctors. Separated by gepgraphy…never having spoken or met…I had kindred spirits in my life through the magic of the printed page. It was fuel for my soul and my writers spirit.
My love of my dog Sadie and the many experiences in my life that were too good to keep to myself developed into my column….DOGS…DIETS…DATING. Doug Imbrogno my initial editor had this to say about my column:
“Patti Lawson has won a devoted following to her regular column DOGS…DIETS…DATING in the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail. She is a writer who knows how to mix the personal with the universal. A real delight.”
And readers kept reading and I was continually overwhelmed at local book signings by the number of people who came to meet me and Sadie BECAUSE they LOVED our column in the Gazette. I will always be thankful for that opportunity and the dozens of wonderful people we met because of it and the hundreds who sent us notes.
However…the Gazette has decided to cancel our column because I have written some business profiles for a local advertising paper that the Gazette says is competition. I assure the readers, I had no clause in my contract prohibiting this or I would not have done it. And I was not given a choice to pick which publication to write for so then long story short is that DOGS…DIETS…DATING will not appear in the Sunday Gazette Mail anymore.
Sadie and I are NOT saying goodbye to our readers! Please still come to the website to see our column and keep up with our book events. We will have a new section on the website where you can e-mail us questions and the answers will be posted. We are busy with a new book, our column will appear again locally in the future and in the meantime is in publications out of this area and we will post links to them on the website. And we hold no grudges…a lot of confusion as neither of us understand this decision, but life is too wonderful to dwell on the negativity of others….Sadie and I say…ONWARD and UPWARD as we continue to…
SMILE MORE…GROWL LESS!
The Dog Diet 