To get you in the mood for this post, take a couple of minutes to watch an opening scene from an iconic movie:

It’s possible that people under a certain age won’t know who Truman Capote is, but we’d bet they’ve heard of the movie, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” the clip you just watched. Capote wrote that.  He also wrote, “In Cold Blood,” which was the first truly horrific non-fiction book a lot of us read (it detailed a 1959 quadruple murder, and before the killers were captured, he traveled to the crime scene with his childhood friend, Harper Lee, who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird” in which she based the character, “Dill,” on Capote).  At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays, a major feat for someone who is said to have taught himself to read and write before the first grade. Truman was a lonely child, and maybe to keep himself busy, if not stave off unwelcome solitude, he began writing fiction at the age of 11. That was around the time he was given the nickname “Bulldog.”

Capote was working with film director, John Huston, on the film, “Beat the Devil” (1953) when at the end of filming, he was presented with an English Bulldog by Huston‘s colleague, Jack Clayton. Capote named the dog, “Charlie J. Fatburger,” and spoiled him rotten. After the dog died, he was succeeded by another bulldog, “Maggie,” whom Capote once flew to Europe in a private jet, along with a tame crow and a cat, to keep him company on a skiing trip to Verbier.

Now go read some Capote. Good stuff.