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Pawbook - TPR's In Focus - Sept. 1, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Rosa Parks Museum on Troy University's
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  Montgomery campus, located on the spot of Mrs.
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  Parks' historic 1955 arrest and featuring exhibits
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  that chronicle the history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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  More information at troy.edu/rosaparks.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is
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  the Storyline book series from In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  Children and families are adjusting to back-to-school
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  routines with all of its challenges.
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  Retired teacher and author Liz Fryer joins us by Skype
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  from Troy to share the insights she gained from
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  observing a very special dog and how he
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  influenced her people and animals throughout his
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  life. Her book is Spencer's Paw
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  Book of Wisdom.
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  Elizabeth Fryer, thank you so much for joining us from Troy.
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  Thank you, Carolyn. I appreciate you asking me.
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  Liz, we are talking about some heartwarming stories from
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  your life and Sir Spencer Pug's life. He has 11,000
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  followers. On social
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  media, and you have written a series of 3
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  books about the influence that this pug has had
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  on your family and thousands of other people.
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  Congratulations. Oh, thank you so much. I take
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  no credit. It's all Spencer. Who was Spencer?
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  Spencer was a pug who came
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  to Twitter in 2017, set up
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  a site, made some friends, and started telling things
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  from his heart. People would ask, and the dogs
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  would ask, Spencer, what should I do about this? Help us
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  feel positive. And it just all grew
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  from there. It's been going on for years, and a lot of them
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  remember him. Some of them are new, and they have to
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  be told who he was, and they still get the truth. How did
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  he get his name, Sir Spencer? We named him after
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  Princess Diana's family in Great
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  Britain. Spencer looks like he would be a part of
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  that special family, you know, with an estate and everything.
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  So we got that from the Spencer family. You spent
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  almost 30 years as an educator teaching
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  reading K through 12. Yes. You have linked that to
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  Spencer's story and the story of Spencer's family.
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  As a teacher, did you feel the need
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  for more students to be able to read well and interpret
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  what they read, applying it to their own lives?
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  Yes, because when they read, they don't have to read
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  just dry things. If they read something that
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  will help them— maybe they're drawn to a certain topic
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  or genre, maybe they just need to
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  be able to read to feed their soul— and that is where all
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  these beautiful truths floating around in our world
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  can be learned by reading. So as
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  you observe Spencer, your pug, and watched him with
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  his family and interact with people that you came in contact with,
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  what did his behavior exemplify?
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  People would say, how do you know what Spencer would say?
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  It was so easy. I had nothing to do with it. His heart
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  was so warm, and his eyes reflected all
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  that love. And it was almost like I could just tell what
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  he was trying to say. It was just beautiful,
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  beautiful words came out. And that's where all
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  of this philosophy originated, from his heart.
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  Do you think that Spencer's philosophy and his sayings
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  can be applied in teaching children, some of his principles?
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  Oh, definitely. I think a teacher or a
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  grandmother or a parent or someone that maybe
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  has time to spend with the child could just take a little
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  part of this book and show children that there's
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  hope out there. There's a way to turn our lives around and be
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  happy, and this is how we do it. It's very simple. There's just
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  so much that we need to teach children and adults
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  how to be hopeful. There's hope, and we can teach
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  that. There's a passage in the middle of the book about choosing
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  happiness. Can you share that with us? Oh, I'd love to.
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  Happiness does not result from what we get,
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  but from what we give. We can only be
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  truly generous when we expect nothing in return.
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  And that is Spencer. How did you see him put
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  that into action? I saw him stand back,
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  give everything he had to Lulu or
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  the puppies, or in, in this case, Lily, that he raised.
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  He was the most giving, selfless creature.
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  And it was absolutely stunning to watch
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  him in action. He was so humble and sweet.
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  And you saw him encourage other people. This is one
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  of the principles in Spencer's book. Yes. How did you
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  see him do that? When other people that knew him
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  would come to his site and they would see him tell
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  something that was hopeful, or, or maybe something helped
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  me see the beauty of life. This is why these
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  people kept coming back. And then they'd say, we need some
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  more of Spencer's Truths, please let us hear some more
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  that he would say. And that's where all this was born.
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  Some of the quick tips you have in the book from Spencer
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  about how to feel better. Can you share some of those?
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  Sure. It's just as simple as smile and
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  don't be too hard on yourself. People are so hard on themselves.
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  And then caring for others. If someone needs
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  to be encouraged, say something that will give them hope.
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  Also, just maybe laugh and sit
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  outside and let the trees blow the leaves, and you can hear
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  the rustling, and you think, I know what that is. That's peace.
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  That's really peace. And that's something that we
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  can't be taught. Liz, you have a family member that put this principle,
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  laugh, into action. What happened to her?
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  My darling Aunt Sarah, who was a character,
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  was very sick in the hospital, and she said to her doctors,
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  let me go home, let me go home. She started doing some research
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  on laughter and how healing it was. She would
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  sit in a rocking chair and laugh, laugh, laugh all
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  by herself. And do you know, that was like medicine.
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  And she got well and went on to live to be 100
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  and played the piano at her birthday party.
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  It worked. And don't we need that in today's
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  world? Yes, we do. Yes, Liz, I was looking
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  at some of the parts of this book that certainly apply to
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  children in different situations, and Spencer had advice.
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  What do you do when you're afraid? And children sometimes do
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  get afraid, and adults do too. As a matter of fact, we have a
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  lot of adults right now who are afraid, and it's okay to
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  be afraid. He would say that part of you that
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  is afraid is just a space that
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  can be soon occupied by happiness and joy.
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  Just give it time. All emotions are just temporary,
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  and they will go away, and good ones will come in its
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  place. And that's what we all need to hear. I'm thinking
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  that your book can be read by parents to
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  young children. It can be read by children themselves.
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  And even the little parts where They tell me that they read to
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  each other. You advocate, and Spencer advocates in this book,
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  Spencer's Paw Book of Wisdom, to reconnect with
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  nature. It's very important. Get out in the fresh air,
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  even if it's just for a few minutes. And he would look around,
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  and maybe it was dusk, and it was almost like all the
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  sadness is going to blow away. The birds are singing.
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  Let's sing songs of joy. And let the other songs blow
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  away in the night wind. Well, Liz,
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  unfortunately, we're out of time. Can we visit again
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  and get some of Spencer's quick tips on how to feel
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  better? I would be honored and I would love to.
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  Joining us from Troy for the Storyline book series was
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  retired teacher and author Liz Fryer.
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  Her book, Spencer's Paw Book of Wisdom,
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  is the latest in the Spencer series.
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  Thanks for joining us today for In Focus,
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  which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Our interview with Liz Fryer was originally broadcast
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  August 13th, 2024. I'm Carolyn Hutcheson,
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  and this is listener-supported Troy Public
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  Radio.