All text, guides, photos, illustrations & dragonfly icon on this website copyright © by H.W. Thornton
Dragonfly Books -- Distributor ... offers A Cat Named Fish and
a Fish Named Cat [ISBN 0978825209] by author H Wayne Thornton.
Dad & daughter Jill around 1978-79,
when she asked "Daddy" to tell her
a story. He did; and it was the
beginnings of A Cat Named Fish
and a Fish Named Cat. In time it
grew into a book dedicated to both
Jill and her mother, Betty.
Author Wayne Thornton at the kitchen table with his book.
About the Author:
A dedicated husband and father, Thornton lives in the high desert of the
Sandia Mountain foothills in northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was
raised in the oil fields of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
Time spent outdoors and in the wilds, on a variety of jobs, and in military
service provided fundamental lessons for life and an opportunity to perform
as a top hand. From his teenage years on he has worked as a laborer in the
railroad yards, cotton fields, on drilling rigs, and in mines underground.
During the late 1960s he served the United States as a sub-sailor aboard a
nuclear fast attack US Navy submarine -- the USS Haddock, SSN 621 --
sailing the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal, the Pacific
Ocean, and the Sea of Japan off the coasts of North Korea and Siberia.
Thornton has worked for the US Forest Service for over 30 years in various
assignments including wildland firefighter, heli-attack foreman, District
Ranger, US Senate Legislative Assistant, Forest Supervisor, and Regional
Director of Lands and Minerals.
Education was a priority for Thornton who found time to earn a bachelor's
degree and two master's degrees at three different universities -- Oregon
State, Northern Arizona, and Michigan State. For 6 years he taught Sunday
morning Bible study to third and fourth graders in his own unorthodox style.
For example, he taught the children how to fight off wolves with loud fearless
shouts while swinging and jabbing with a hickory staff to "protect the flock"
like the shepherds did long ago. He also climbed up on the classroom table
and pumped out 20 push ups every time a child properly explained the
meaning of a scripture verse. The children's parents had no trouble getting
their young charges to Sunday morning Bible study!
At 60 years of age, Thornton deeply appreciates God's creation of the
natural world and our responsibilities as sojourners here. This sentiment has
only grown deeper through activities including mountain bicycle racing,
100-mile bicycle races, boulder hopping on wilderness backpacking treks,
fishing trips, sailing the Gulf of Mexico, drifting the John Day River in Oregon,
kayaking trips on lakes and the Sea of Cortez, and merely watching the
wonder of sunrises and sunsets.
_____________________________________________________________________
|
Betty Thornton welcoming a kiss
of appreciation from husband
Wayne -- in the Fall of 2005.
Dating for 39 years and married
in holy matrimony for 37! To this
day she is his mainstay and God's
angel on earth as he lives life and
fights cancer along the way.
[Note: See link to the New Mexico
Cancer Center at bottom of page.]
Three brothers with bones on the
front porch around 1953-54. Left
to right -- Richard, Donnie, and
Wayne.
A triumphant return from a foray in
the backwoods for bones and other
precious offerings of the earth.
A wonderful and almost feral way of
life in the hill and creek country
near Sasakwa, Oklahoma, not far
from the Canadian River where the
teachings of the elders and the
woods creatures were not lost on
the three brothers.
Our Main Interest: Children learning to read and enjoying reading with
their parents, relatives, teachers, and others who care for them.
Of course, we hope you will purchase our book to read with your children.
Hear this, though! Whether you purchase it or not, read with your children.
We all think of books when we say "read." As a child my grandfather,
grandmothers, and parents helped me learn to read books. But more than
that, they made a game of it. The had me reading billboards, signs, labels
on canned vegetables, mayonnaise jars, and ketchup jars with them. Yes,
they sure did; having fun all the while with my attempts to sound out all those
polysyllabic "contents" on the back of the food labels.
All of us -- moms & dads, uncles & aunts, grandmas & grandpas, brothers &
sisters, teachers, and friends -- should read with our children from an early
age onward. Who better than you? No one, absolutely no one!
By the way, when you read with your children, read the stories with drama,
emotion, and flair. Nothing less will do! And, encourage them to do the
same. Make the stories into adventures that come alive between you and
them. Children love it when people like you ham it up with them. Do it!
What it takes is you caring and investing your time. This is an investment
with potential gains far beyond what you can ever earn in the financial world.
Invest time with the little ones and a good story. Make it happen!
Finally, why do I think A Cat Named Fish and a Fish Named Cat is such a
good story? Because I created it solely for our daughter when she was a
child. Because it has a neat play on words; and because it reflects some of
the values she was raised with that became a natural part of who she is
today as an adult.
I am firmly convinced our values, embedded deeply in our human character,
are timeless. They are as meaningful today as they were way back when; as
meaningful tomorrow as they are now. But, they only exist and become
timeless if we pass them on and help make them relevant to those who come
after us. This little fictional animal story I wrote for our daughter may seem
simply about some talking animals in a folktale. Watch out, though! It's
much more. It's one more contribution by one more father who intends to
add to the solid character and humor of the little ones who absorb more than
we think and who will take our place some day.
Yes, our little 10-page book is a good story! I'm grateful that Bing Books
published it. Listen to it as you read; listen to what the creatures in it have to
teach us. Read it and you will see there are life lessons that will come
through! You've got my word on that.
H. Wayne Thornton
To view the links to our Online Guides for the children's short story,
A Cat Named Fish and a Fish Named Cat, click on the dragonfly.........
To view purchasing information, click on the dragonfly............................
Fire Crew Foreman Thornton -- US
Forest Service about 1973. Alsea
Ranger District, Siuslaw National
Forest in Oregon.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ranger Thornton -- US
Forest Service about 1987.
Sandia Ranger District,
Cibola National Forest in
New Mexico. As shown on
the Author's page of his
book, A Cat Named Fish
and a Fish Named Cat.
New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation: As one of the many who live life and
fight cancer along the way, I encourage you to go online to the New Mexico Cancer
Center (NMCC) -- a fine diagnosis and treatment center where the folks have helped my
family and me in our fight.
Their non-profit foundation, the NMCC Foundation, is dedicated to helping their cancer
patients and the patient's families who qualify for financial assistance through their
Patient Grant Program. They help financially with childcare, groceries, transportation,
and the like. If we at Dragonfly Books are able to make any net returns on the sale of our
book, after costs and after taxes, we will give 10% of whatever is left to the NMCC
Foundation.
Contact Information: NMCC Foundation, Albuquerque, NM -- Phone #505-822-3950; or
go to www.nmcancercenter.com
For purchasing
information,
click on the
dragonfly....
Amy Treece, Editor/Owner,
Bing Books, Sherman, Texas.
Publisher of A Cat Named
Fish and a Fish Named Cat
About Us and our children's book A Cat Named Fish and a Fish
Named Cat
Dragonfly Books!
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friendly
version
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