Guest Editorial by Peter James
British author Peter James has written popular crime novels, such as Not Dead Enough, Dead Simple, Looking Good Dead and the upcoming Dead Man’s Footsteps. He works under the watchful eyes of two pet dogs, Phoebe and Oscar.
BUCHAREST, Romania – As I write this, I’m sitting at Bucharest Airport after an extraordinary few days of book promotion and research in Romania.
This is a country full of wild dogs, but instead of being feral and hostile, they’re well fed and friendly. Evidently when the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu seized power, he threw the bourgeoisie out of their houses, and their dogs were left to fend for themselves. Many generations later, they’ve figured out that by being friendly to people, they get fed, which is easier than hunting.
Meanwhile, many of the poorer people, including street-dwellers, realized that if they feed the dogs, the dogs faithfully protect them. That’s exactly what happens.
Incidentally, did I ever tell you about the factories of the future? Each industrial complex will have just two employees – a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to stop the man from touching the machines.
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Contented dogs doze in a poor district of Bucharest.
Peter James notices
dogs on this travels.
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