Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home

Pauls Toutonghi

Jun 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Stephen R. Thorne

About this audiobook

Saturday, October 10, 1998. Fielding Marshall is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog-a six-year-old golden retriever named Gonker-bolts into the woods. Just like that, he has vanished. And Gonker has Addison's disease. If he's not found in twenty-three days he will die. The search begins. Fielding and his father, John, are dispatched to the field. They have the family's other dog, Uli, in tow. Combing the trails, Fielding and his father bond like never before. Fielding's sister, Peyton, calls and talks him through some of his lowest moments. And-at home-Fielding's mother, Virginia, sets up a command center. Virginia becomes a field general. With a map and a phonebook at her side, she contacts animal shelters, police precincts, general stores, community centers, newspapers, radio stations, churches, and park rangers. She is tireless. The local paper in Waynesboro writes a small story about the family's search. The story hits the AP Newswire. But as the search continues, the Marshalls realize that they may not survive losing him. Even as the wounds of their past return to haunt them and threaten to jeopardize everything, they know they have one mission: bring Gonker home.

About the author

Pauls Toutonghi has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, and his writing has appeared in Granta, Tin House, One Story, VQR, The Millions, The Rumpus, Zoetrope, the Boston Review, and many other periodicals. He teaches at Lewis & Clark College and lives in Oregon.

Stephen R. Thorne is a professional actor and a member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad, among many other roles. Stephen has narrated over fifty audiobooks.