The Life of Murry

Mild-mannered dog becomes storybook hero to children dealing with life’s twists and turns

by Lisa Colwell- Loveland Reporter-Herald
Published with the permission of Loveland Reporter-Herald.
Photo by Jenny Sparks.

   Sometimes, children must face little life lessons, like learning how to share.
Sometimes, they must face bigger lessons, like dealing with a mother’s cancer diagnosis.

That’s where Barbara Murray steps in, with her dog Murry at her side.

Murray, a former educator and counselor, is writing a series of books for children to help them deal with everything from sharing and learning to wait to facing fears and dealing with a seriously ill loved one.

She and illustrator Sam Salas use Murry’s experiences to tell each story, showing the lovable mixed-breed dog going through some of the same situations a child might encounter.

To get the books into the hands of children who need them but might not be able to afford them, Murray came up with a special marketing plan.

She sells the books by the case to nonprofit organizations that agree to give the volumes free of charge to children in their community.

She then gives half of the proceeds from the case sales to the charity of the nonprofit organization’s choosing. The rest goes to produce the books.

Murray even donates half of each single-copy sale to the charity of the buyer’s choice.

Topics From Real-Life

Because Murray announced her intention to become a children’s author after her first visit to a library at age 6, she’s had a lot of time to think of topics, she said with a laugh.

“The list is up to 32 titles,” she said.

She and Salas are producing an average of two books per year.

Books coming out in 2008 deal with staying out of trouble and understanding people (or in Murry’s case, animals) who are different.

The duo will then tackle the book, “Sometimes, The People We Love Get Sick.”

Murray recently spent the better part of two years helping her niece fight stage four multiple myeloma, a cancer that attacks both blood cells and bones.

After enduring chemotherapy and three bone marrow transplants, the young mother of two children had to live in a transplant wing of the University of Minnesota, away from her children, the family dog and anything else that could carry germs that would invade her fragile body.

“We wrote that book together,” Murray said, “as she laughed through the pain.”

Her niece is now back at home with her husband, children and the dog.

One Tough Dog

Murry, too, knows all about facing difficulties, Murray said.

“All the situations he goes through in the book are real, as are the other people and animals in the books.”

Murry really did learn how to share with a kindly yellow dog named Mindy. He really did discover that riding in a car to go to the groomers wasn’t all that bad.

But Murry almost didn’t live to learn those things.

When he was a puppy, Murry was thrown out of a moving pickup truck on a back road in Weld County, Murray said.

“Luckily, a couple following the truck saw it happen, and called the Weld County Humane Society,” Murray said. “The bleeding puppy had multiple skull fractures, so the Humane Society staff thought they might have to put him to sleep. They thought that with those head injuries, he’d turn out mean.”

Although they already had two dogs, her sons had talked her into visiting the Humane Society and immediately fell for the unlucky pup.

“My son David kept saying, ‘Look at his eyes, Mom. He’s not mean,’” she explained.

Murray gave in and took the little golden retriever-border collie home.

Although Murry has had seizures as a result of his head injuries, he’s otherwise been a healthy and loving dog, Murray said.

“I’m so glad David really pushed us, because Murry’s been such a wonderful dog, and now he’s helping so many people,” she said.

Overcoming the Odds

When Murry first joined the family, Murray was a single mom.

She was a teacher and worked extra jobs to take care of her family. Like Murry, she overcame the odds.

After starting the People Offering People Support program for at-risk students in the Thompson School District, Murray went on to serve as executive director of the McKee Medical Center Foundation for 10 years.

Then, she decided to take up her husband’s challenge to make good on her promise to become a children’s book author.

“The Reporter-Herald ran a front page article saying that I was leaving the foundation to write books,” Murray said with a laugh. “That was some pressure. If I didn’t do it, I was going to have to leave town.”

Salas has a similar story.

After working as an actor and artist, he had gone back to school to finish his college degree. While in school, a teacher recommended him to Murray as a potential illustrator for her books. When he walked in Murray’s door, Murry took to the artist right away, leaning on him as if to say, “He’s the one,” Murray said.

Both author and illustrator are baby boomers and said the past few years have been the best, more productive years of their lives.

“I waited all my life to do what I said I’d do when I was 6,” Murray said, “and I’m having a ball.”