Going Home
The Lost Story
of Chief the Fire Dog
by
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Reviews
Going home is a tender, touching story that will warm and break hearts of all ages. The photos scattered throughout help ground the story in its timeframe, which, is in the midst of the 1929 stock crash. Kavanagh does a great job on the voice of the story’s hero, Chief, a lost then found mutt who won the hearts of a city fire department. Her narrative flows smoothly, making for a quick easy read…
-Writer’s Digest
Chief’s story begins with the Great Depression. Like many Depression-era pets, Chief becomes homeless, left in the field to fend for himself. The dog enters Fire Station 203, the firefighters welcome him, and Chief finds his life filled with renewed purpose as he accompanies the men on their rescue missions. The loyal canine is always the first one into the burning building, and his “insistent bark” warns the firefighters that people are trapped inside. Ten years after he was abandoned, he embarks on his last mission. Unfortunately, Chief is hit by a car. The dog finds himself in heaven, looking down on his firefighter friends being greeted by his mother and the Archangel Michael. Kavanagh’s fiction debut is well-written and deftly tackles the topic of grief. The tale centers on the imagined life of a dog, but it often philosophizes on the effects of the Great Depression and concludes with Christian imagery. When Kavanagh does describe Chief’s experiences, the narrative leaps to life. On Chief’s last mission, for example, the fire is described as “muffled crackling noises growing in intensity, “ and soon the burning building collapses with “the sound of an approaching freight train.” These lively moments stand out in an account mostly of quiet exposition.
…noble story of a Depression-era dog…
-Kirkus Reviews
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About the Book
Based on a little-known snippet of New York City history, Going Home: The Lost Story of Chief the Fire Dog is the heartwarming story of a destitute dog's quest for home, family, and a sense of self.
After the stock market crash of 1929, the dog's financially devastated owner abandons him on the outskirts of New York City. While adjusting to life as a stray, the dog discovers New York City Fire Station Engine Company 203. Among the firemen, he finds a family and a name-Chief.
Chief becomes the station's beloved pet; then, fire dog, and finds in himself the heart of a hero. But one day, Chief's life is interrupted by tragedy, leading him on a journey that ultimately takes him to his true home and to the mother and family he never knew. He learns that life has many lessons-but it is love that matters in the end.
Chief's story offers healing to children who have suffered loss or pain. As a psychotherapist and pediatric nurse for more than thirty years, author Charlene Kate Kavanagh knows first hand that emotional needs of children are often forgotten in times of grief and suffering, whether personal or universal. Going Home reaches out to them and anyone whose world has been lost in a moment.
About the Author
Charlene Kate Kavanagh, a psychologist for twenty-five years, initially served as a nurse in the U.S. Navy. As the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital's first pediatric ICU nurse specialist, she developed programs for abused and burned children. Kavanagh currently specializes in transpersonal psychotherapy. She and her husband, a retired firefighter, live in Madison, Wisconsin.