A short story about Paddy
“She has an infallible eye for gray squirrels in gray trees.”
There are many alumni from the late 1950s who remember Paddy, the late professor Charlotte Towle’s beloved Scottish Terrier. What we know of Paddy is from the memorial issue of the SSA Newsletter that honored professor Charlotte Towle from Autumn-Winter 1966-67:
“No memorial would be complete for Miss Towle would be complete without reference to her love for dogs, particularly Scottish terriers. There were the several “Fridays,” and there were “Paddy,” (whose picture is shown) and “Tamas.”
Paddy was a frequent visitor to Cobb Hall, sharing Miss Towle’s work life as she shared her home life. When Paddy died in 1958 while on vacation in New Hampshire, an SSA staff member, who had enjoyed taking Paddy for noontime walks and giving her the little luncheon snacks that she was allowed, heard the news from Miss Towle in a letter that is still a treasured keepsake. The warmth and love that Miss Towle brought to all human contacts was also evident in her feeling for her “dog persons.” Her letter spoke of such things as:
“I shall miss that little dog person, with her endearing quirks and decided ways. She was always such fun. But her legs grew too weary for the trails of this world, so she took off on her own. “
Compassion, understanding, warmth, love for all that is living – these words only begin to describe the imprint that Charlotte Towle left for all of use to trace.”
Excerpt from the SSA Newsletter, Autumn-Winter 1966-67, courtesy Charlotte Towle’s Papers in the University of Chicago Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center.