Mailbag - December 2021

IN HER ELEMENT Author Kate McCormick, in the city’s Fire Truck Park, is an expert on Southside Place. Her first book, Images of America: Southside Place, co-authored with fellow resident Kris Holt, led to her discovery of Happy the dog and her children’s book about the 1931 canine hero. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

We have Happy

[In response to A Tail-Wagging Hero: An author's salute to Happy the dog, by Cathy Gordon, September 2021.] The Houston Fire Museum is thrilled to have the opportunity to sell Kate McCormick’s Happy in our gift shop. The Museum is charged with preserving the rich history of Houston’s diverse fire service. Happy the dog is part of this history and portrays not only his courage but that of the firefighters who battled the fire.

The 131-year-old building that is home to the Houston Fire Museum is fondly called “Old 7’s.” It is currently closed for preservation. A temporary office and gift shop is open to the public at 3219 Milam. The books are available at this location.

Kate Ryther, Executive Director, Houston Fire Museum

Editor’s note: If any of you missed Cathy Gordon’s article about the stray dog named Happy who saved his new family’s life in Southside Place during a house fire back in 1931, you can find it here. Happy landed on the front of the newspaper back then, along with Capone and Charles Lindbergh, and the fire sparked a movement that led to the creation of the Southside Place Volunteer Fire Department. Author Kate McCormick researched and told the tale in a children’s picture book called “Happy: The True Story of a Stray Dog Who Became a Hero.”

Game on 

Jennifer Oakley wrote a fantastic article about chess [War Over the Board: Young chess players face off, April 2021]. Thanks to this article, some of your readers have reached out to me asking for chess advice or lessons. CarMichael [Kyle] is still taking online lessons with me and still learning new openings and strategies. I believe he is still having fun and improving. 

Now that the severity of the pandemic has lessened, I am back to teaching some in-person and some online classes. The pandemic taught me that there is an online world to explore in addition to over the board. Via cloud-based communication and other apps, I am amazed that people can still stay connected through chess as well as other hobbies and endeavors. 

Even though the chess buzz is not quite as strong as before, I feel it is still a growing pastime. I appreciate Jennifer mentioning me in this article, and I'm grateful to be part of the chess scene in West University and abroad. 

John Kristan Hendrick 

Looking back

I remember all of them [restaurants shared in Restaurant Memories: A look back at Houston’s dining past, by Russell Weil, November 2014, and More Restaurant Memories: Stories from Houston’s dining past, by Russell Weil, December 2016]! Mr. [Sonny] Look and my Dad were old buddies. I took my girlfriend to the location inside 610, and Sonny himself opened the car door for Mary and called us both by our first names! As well as good food, his restaurants had really great ambience.

Michael Motl

Editor’s note: If you have restaurant memories, we’d love to share them with our readers. Email [email protected].

Correction 

I had a home in Whitefish, MT, for 25 years. You did a good job hitting the highlights in the story [Travel Buzz: Montana moments, by Tracy L. Barnett, November 2021].

However, Glacier National Park has 1,538 square miles of wilderness ... not acres.

Your article had me reliving some of the good times I had there like the folks in your article.

Ken Kramer

Editor’s note: Ken, thank you for your close read. We appreciate you letting us know about this error. We’ve corrected it on the online version. Glad this story brought back positive Montana memories for you! 

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