About traveling

Next week’s theme: animals.

In Shoreditch (London) you can meet an Artist (John Dolan) and his dog (George) on the streets. In 2013 John wrote a book about their former life –George the Dog, John the Artist: A Rescue Story– . (The “uplifting, humble, and moving” true story of a troubled, East London artist and a twice-abandoned Staffordshire bull terrier who rescue each other (ForeWord Magazine).)

John Dolan grew up rough on the estates of east London. His early life was marked by neglect and abuse, and his childhood gift for drawing was stamped out by the tough realities outside his front door. A life of substance abuse and petty crime eventually landed him in prison. And when he was released, he found himself on the streets, surviving day-by-day, living hand-to-mouth.
 
It wasn’t until he met George, a homeless Staffy puppy, that his life changed for the better. To begin with, George was a handful: he had been abused himself and was scared of human contact. Soon, John and George became inseparable. It was then that John decided to pick up his long-forgotten gift for drawing, sitting on the sidewalk for hours at a time, sketching pictures of George that he would sell to passers-by.
 
“With dry wit and a lack of sentimentality,” John recounts how he found his life’s calling with his best friend by his side in this “disarmingly modest yet profound tale of redemption”
(Kirkus Reviews).

2 thoughts on “About traveling”

    1. Nein leider nicht, aber dazu war ich auch zu spät. Ich habe John&George erst 2017 bei meinem ersten Besuch in London mehrfach getroffen. Mich irgendwann -kurzentschlossen- zu einem Fototermin verabredet. Er war sehr charmant mit mir und gleichzeitig sehr schwer verständlich mit seinem harten Cockney-Akzent und meinen nur rudimentären Englisch-Kenntnissen. Lustigerweise war er der erste, dem ich begegnete, als ich 2018 bei meinem 2ten London-Besuch aus dem Bus stolperte. Und so konnte ich ihm die Fotos der Session in vielfacher Ausfertigung (zum verkaufen) übergeben. Das Buch (oft sehr günstig über ebay auf deutsch oder englisch zu finden) habe ich erst später gelesen – kein literarisches Meisterwerk, aber dennoch lesenswert.

      and for our american friends (translated by deepl.com):
      No, unfortunately not, but I was also too late. I have met John & George in 2017 during my first visit to London several times on the streets. I then arranged to meet him for a photo session at some point. He was very charming with me and at the same time very difficult to understand with his hard Cockney accent and my only rudimentary knowledge of English. Funnily enough, he was the first person I met when I stumbled off the bus on my 2nd visit to London in 2018. And so I was able to give him the photos of the session in multiples (to sell). The book (often very cheap to find on ebay in German or English) I read only later – not a literary masterpiece, but still worth reading.

Leave a Reply