A Dog Named Carlo (VPR)

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In a VPR commentary and birthday tribute to Emily Dickinson, Professor Colleen Glenney Boggs writes about the poet’s love for her dog, Carlo.

As a child, “I didn’t want to identify with Dickinson because I thought of her as a strange, lonely woman,” writes Boggs, a professor of English and of women's and gender studies and director of the Leslie Center for the Humanities.

“That’s how many of us know Dickinson, as a nearly mythical reclusive writer. But as with all myths, some things about this story are true. And others aren’t quite true,” Boggs writes.

“Some years ago, I read something that changed how I imagine Dickinson. I found out that Emily Dickinson had a dog. His name was Carlo, he was a gift from her father, and he lived with Dickinson for sixteen years.”

Read the full opinion piece, published 11/26/14 by VPR.

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