Jasper, eight months old, with Lauren in Central Park
Photo credit: Nancy Belfer

Jasper was my close companion as I wrote "A Fierce Radiance." After our long morning walk, he spent his day lying on his back, four limbs spread wide, sleeping beside my desk while I wrote. In the late afternoons, we took another long walk, visiting shops and doing errands together. With his happy spirit and the joyful spring in his step, with his remarkable nobility and breathtaking handsomeness (his long fur waving in the breeze), Jasper prompted strangers to run across the street to greet him. He had friends throughout the neighborhood.

Jasper died at home, of cancer, in March, 2009. He was six years old. My family and I miss him still.