Farewell, Miss Julie

About the Book

People who love dogs will find adventure, humor, and pathos in this family story.

            If every man needs one good woman and one good dog in his lifetime, Dad found  both. Although the woman and their children appear throughout this book, the story focuses on the dog and her man.

            Julie was an undersized Llewellin English setter, amiable of disposition, and freckled of face. Dad, an avid outdoorsman, doted on her shamelessly for seventeen years.

            They roamed the great outdoors, sharing adventures with game birds, varmints, white-water rivers, and hang-gliders. So inseparable were they, Mama once remarked,          "If that dog could cook and make love, I''d be out of a job!"

            Julie would never have won a field trial, but she became a serious bird dog, hunting bobwhites and ruffed grouse in the Appalachians. Later, the game was valley and mountain quail in California. She learned not to chase rabbits and deer, but Dad was powerless over her ground-hog addiction. Upon encountering a woodchuck, her eyes would glow with the joy of combat, and she would attack with colors flying.

            In the field, it was all business, but the professional training fraternity would curl its collective lip to see Dad coddle his dogs around the house.

            With her second litter, Julie produced a handsome co-character, Pretty Boy.

            Julie perfected a guilt-inducing stare that paid off in shares of whatever snack was being consumed. She endeared herself to all with her dance of joy when an outing appeared imminent. Disapproval was expressed by a disdainful sneer.            

            In her old age, arthritis overwhelmed her. Dad tirelessly medicated and massaged her, but finally had to accept the only thing to do for a painfully crippled dog that implored him for relief.

            Most of the action occurs in Virginia, California, and Florida.

About the Author

            Robert S. Tinsley was born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia.  He attended Duke University, where he wrote for the college newspaper. Adventure beckoned, and he left during the Korean War to become a naval aviator.  He’s never been sure which side quit when they learned he was coming.

            During his twelve years active duty, he wrote numerous newsletters, and, as an aviation safety officer, far too many aircraft accident reports.

            He has had only one wife, Jackie, and still has her.  She served as a model for “Mama” in this book.  Well, let’s not kid the reader, who soon realizes the book is a memoir, even if written in the third person and presented as fiction.  It is (mostly) true.

            After active naval service, the author spent a season aerial crop-spraying, before signing on with a major air line.  He continued flying for the naval reserve.

            Perhaps as preparation for writing such a book as this, he spent most of his spare time afield, hunting, fishing, hiking, and canoeing.  Dogs have always been a large part of his life.  The family has never been without at least one.  The act of hunting with a dog forms a special bond between two sentient beings, in the same way a border collie bonds with the sheep owner.

            Tinsley has been writing regular columns and features for the Star-Advocate (now Florida Today Communities) since 1992.  He has done humorous and informative stories for various publications, including Savannah Magazine, Air Line Pilot, Quail Unlimited, and Logbook, a Magazine of Aviation History.  He has a non-fiction book in the works.

            The writer has lived over much of the United States.  Particularly worthy of mention are Front Royal, Virginia; Half Moon Bay, California; and Titusville, Florida-- places where the spoiled-rotten bird dogs resided.