In this episode Phebe chats about the history of cats on ships, even as far back as the Egyptians, and Vikings. Did you know black cats were lucky? A tea kettle whistles her listeners into a legend about Noah’s Ark, and how the cat first appeared. The reading is taken from The First Ship’s Cat, from Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, on page 49 inside the book The Well-Read Cat by Browntrout Publishers in San Francisco. As always, a photo and purchase link to the book is located in the Episode and Show Notes section of The Literary CatCast (dot) com. A photo of the cat who voices the meows is also on the website. The Literary CatCast Podcast exists to help literature lovers, who also love cats, build their personal libraries with old and new books featuring cats as main characters.

The First Ship's Cat

The Literary CatCast is dedicated to the preservation of vintage books and writings with cats as main characters, bringing their awareness into the modern form of a podcast.

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A drunken thief feeds a starving, stray kitten from a vessel of stolen milk. This kindness later creates a dramatic event at the gates of Heaven. A Kitten in Paradise was written by Cicely Hamilton in the late 1920(s) or early 1930(s). It is one of twenty-one tales in the anthology, Puss in Books, copyright 1932.

A Kitten in Paradise

A Cat May Look At A King was written by Jan Struther in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Struther also created the character, Mrs. Miniver, popular in the late 1930s and 1940s. In this story, a royal court cat blindly worships and unquestioningly trusts the King, until the King kicks him. At that point, a new perspective is formed for both the cat and the King. Through their conversations, and wisdom gained from the cat's point-of-view, the King and the Kingdom are changed for the better, forever. 

A Cat May Look At A King

Cleveland Amory rescues a starving, hurt, stray white cat from a New York City alley on a snowy Christmas Eve night in 1977. This cat became known as his much loved cat, Polar Bear, featured in three of his best selling novels. In this episode Phebe reads chapter one, The Rescue from The Cat Who Came for Christmas.

The Cat Who Came for Christmas

The Paradise of Cats, written in 1864, by Emile Zola is the story of a fat, comfortable cat who longs to leave his luxurious life, and run wild on Paris rooftops. Told in the cat's own words, the cat soon discovers that life on the street is not as free and beautiful as expected. 

The Paradise of Cats

The Fat Cat, written in 1959 by the collaborative author group named, Q. Patrick, is categorized as suspense. It's a vintage short story that word plays on the childhood rhyme, The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat, but this is not a child's story. It follows a cat, who follows a soldier through a treacherous jungle during WWII.  The Literary Catcast is dedicated to the preservation of vintage books and literature with cats as main characters—bringing their awareness into the modern form of a podcast. You may find us under the keywords: cats, books, cats in literature, and narration.

The First Ship's Cat

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