Running to Duncan's Field

Book excerpt: Student and teacher. Owner and pet. Frank Boxer and Duncan Cannon are both teachers: Boxer, an English teacher of seniors at Pines Environmental High School, and Duncan, Frank’s sixteen-year-old dachshund, whose life and fast-approaching departure from this world teach Frank far more than he ever expected. This is the poignant and yet intriguing story of a dog, a teacher, and an oppressive education system that keeps them both fighting for love, for life—and for each other, emotionally, spiritually, and in every other way in which dogs and humans connect. Duncan and Frank’s journey, both through the natural parks that beckon them, and through the re-creation of the most important nation on earth, the Imagine Nation, will pull you in and tug at your heartstrings, long after you have turned the final page. Call this an “educational love story,” if love means never having to say, “Sit down!” or “Play dead!” So, first, take your own dog for a long walk, and then settle in with Running to Duncan’s Field to experience the warmth, love, and strength of the bond between a man and his beloved dog.