The Dog Who Lived
Part 2 of the Evermore story
It was 2001, in the aftermath of September 11th. Much of NYC’s Tribeca area was a ghost town; the neighborhood below Canal Street downwind from the collapsed Twin Towers was dubbed the “Frozen Zone:” nearly 1,000 residents had been evacuated, and many more left voluntarily. Only a small contingency of neighborhood diehards remained behind amidst the smoldering rubble. Mary*, a neighborhood artist and dog-walker/boarder, and her Afghan Hound Luke were among the holdouts. Not long afterwards, Luke was diagnosed with cancer. The vet gave him six-months to live.
Refusing to accept a death sentence, Mary believed that Luke’s system had been poisoned by 9/11, and that he needed a gentle, detoxifying diet to support his immune system. Inspired by the writings of Dr. Pitcairn and Monica Segal, Mary started cooking for him.
Bucking his dire prognosis, Luke ended up living for another six years. During this time, Mary devoted herself to refining his diet, and went on to intern for, and consult with well-respected holistic veterinarian William K. Kruesi, DVM, of the Cold River Veterinary Center in Clarendon, VT.
As Luke’s health improved, Mary began cooking for her dog-walking clients and other dogs in the neighborhood. Soon she had a thriving customer base in Tribeca, where she lived until late 2008. Then, like so many other neighborhood pioneers, she lost her affordable lease and moved the wilds of Red Hook, Brooklyn. She rented a nearby storage space to house two freezers and hired a driver to deliver the food to her Tribeca customers and two Manhattan retailers.
Since dog food was not quite paying the bills, Mary continued boarding her Manhattan dogs in her new apartment across the bridge. She would only live in Red Hook for a month before she crossed paths with another neighborhood artist and dog-walker/boarder, future Evermore co-founder, Hanna.
Next Up: Part 3: Enter Hanna
* Some names have been changed to protect privacy.