Author Lori47 says: Dean Koontz has written many many wonderful novels since the 1970s and has been a very prolific writer. He has a special interest in people with disabilities and dogs. As a result, he includes people with disabilities (of all kinds) in many of his novels as well as dogs because he thinks they are overlooked too much. When he adopted Trixie it was because she was about to be placed with a young lady in a wheelchair to be a service dog after being trained at Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). When they found that Trixie needed elbow surgery, Canine Companions for Independence (the biggest service dog foundation in the U.S.) had to retire her early from service. Mr. Koontz is a great contributor for Canine Companions for Independence and even has his own wing to the foundation! Fortunately, Mr. Koontz and his wife lovingly adopted Trixie and gave her a wonderful life in Southern California. They were devastated when she passed away on June 30, 2011. Trixie has a website of her own which you can find here: http://www.deankoontz.com/trixie/ Please have fun making fun loving and elegant "In Memory of Trixie" pages or tribute pages for her! Any more questions? Just ask! ~Lori Sep 22, 2015