Journalist, Author, Teacher, Wrangler
Biography
Proud New Mexican by Birth
06:12 | Saturday | 14-Dec-63
Roswell and Clovis, NM
Born on a cold Saturday morning in 1963, some three weeks following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He lived in Roswell and Clovis, NM,
San Francisco and Beyond; Happily Married
Steve and his husband Frank (a librarian at Vanderbilt University) have also lived in Texas, California, Michigan, Colorado; they and their pack of six hound dogs now call Donelson, Tennessee, their home.
Coming of Age: 20 Years in Oklahoma
Duncan, OK
He moved to Duncan, OK, in 1974. He graduated from Duncan High School in 1982, and Cameron University in Lawton, OK, in 1986, with a bachelor of arts degree in English and a history minor.
Passions
A Lifelong Love Affair
Airliners!
He fell in love with airliners at the age of five. During a kindergarten field trip in the fall of 1969, he had a fateful encounter with a brand-new Pan American World Airways 747 during the type’s final certification trials in Roswell, NM.
Strengths
Writing and Education
Steve worked in various journalism and communications professional situations and then completed a master of arts degree in elementary educational studies with elementary certification in June 2006 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His certification to teach multi-subject grades K-5 and language arts and social studies in grades 6-8 (as well as ELL/CLAD instruction) is being transferred from Michigan and California during the spring of 2024.
Meet the Hounds
Roux the Second
Basset Hound
Roux, who went by the name of Cornbread during his foster stay, has been with us for two awesome years. He's like Roux the First, only without the bad temper. He's a sweet Roux.
Nicknames: Roux Roux; Doofus; Big Dog; Drooler in Chief; Roody Roo; The Roux.
Bo
Basset Hound Mix
Bo was trained to be a helper dog for a woman suffering from Alzheimer's. He joined us 6-Dec-2020. He tries to make sure all the laundry is dragged into the hallway.
Nicknames: Bobo; Bodacious; Drop-That-Washcloth.
Loula Mae
Basset Hound Mix
Mama Lou is the mother of siblings Goose, Charlie, and Cordelia (Dilly). She has very high expectations of everyone in the manse, especially her children.
Nicknames: Mama; Lou-Lou; Loula Belle.
Charlie
Basset Hound/Treeing Walker Coonhound
Charlie is the Love Bug. He will lick the skin off your face, given a chance. He came to us with extra poundage, but we've never stopped fighting his battle of the bulge. He is the son of Loula and the brother of Goose and Cordelia.
Nicknames: Char-Char; Char-Char Binks; Charles Phillip Arthur George; the Real King Charles III; Love Bug; and when with Dilly, his Mini Me), Dr. Not-So-Evil.
Cordelia
Basset Hound/Treeing Walker Coonhound
Cordelia is the sister of Charlie and Goose and the daughter of Loula. She is the little princess. The runt of the litter, she knows how to stay out of her mother's hair. She loves to sleep under the covers, and is highly independent.
Nicknames: Dilly; Silly Dilly; Diva Princess; Dilly Dawg; Mini Me.
Goose
Basset Hound/Treeing Walker Coonhound
Goose, son of Loula, and brother to Charlie and Dilly, gets his name from a goose-in-flight-shaped white mark on his back. He came to us first before the rest of this crew. He and his siblings are approaching eight years old.
Nicknames: Goober Doo; Goosey-Goose; Mr. Intense.
Over the Rainbow Bridge
We’ve seen off sacross the Rainbow Bridge ome of the most wonderful hounds we could ever hope to be graced with in our lives.
• Bayley Murphey Beagle, 12 1/2, born 20-Aug-1994 in Kemp, TX — crossed 2-Mar-2007 in Brentwood, CA.
• Fred Murphey O’Dougal Beagle, 5 1/2, born 9-Mar-2007 in Brentwood, CA — crossed 20-Aug-2012 in Nashville, TN.
• Feargal Murphey O’Dougal Beagle, 5 1/2, born 9-Mar-2007 in Brentwood, CA — crossed 15-Oct-2015 in Nashville, TN.
• Fergus Murphey O’Dougal Beagle, 14, born 9-Mar-2007 with brother Fred and Feargal, in Brentwood, CA — crossed June-2021 in Nashville, TN.
• Court Jester Bosco Corgi, 8, birth unknown; crossed 20-Mar-2018 in Hermitage, TN.
• Queen of Our Hearts Miss Sascha, the Grande Dame of the Imperial Manse. She was bossy, got what she wanted and let the boys have it whenever they even breathed wrong. She was 12 1/2 years old when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge 31-Jul-19 in Donelson, TN.
• Best friend and favorite girl, Miss Tessa, a chocolate lab who was abused and therefore had to get through life on three legs. Which she handled just fine, thank you very much. Birth unknown; crossed 17-Nov-2018 in Hermitage, TN.
• Roux the First, His Majesty, Emperor of Our Demesne. Birth approximately 2010 near Knoxville, TN; crossed Feb-2021 in Nashville, TN.