The Coldest Winter on a sweltering day

It's only April and the sun burns my skin like it's August! I brave the stinging heat during my lunch break. It felt like I was walking down the Vegas strip at high noon. I noticed the man standing behind me in line at the nearby Chipotle holding a pretty hefty book under his arm. Minutes later, after finishing my vegetarian bowl, I make my way over to his table at the far end of the restaurant. Mike's reading the non-fiction work "The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War" by David Halberstam (yet another non-fiction reader at this Chipotle). It was a present and he's barely getting into it but is enjoying it so far. Mike was in the military and he tends to read alot of historical non-fiction. Mike doesn't necessarily have a favourite era/period, per se and would read about any and all if he could. He hasn't really had much free time to read for pleasure so it's been awhile since he's sat down for a good read. "I usually get reading in when I'm on vacation and like to bring along books that fall into the light-reading category. One doesn't like to think heavy thoughts while on vacation you know! So I read Stephen King books on trips. I really enjoy his stuff."


Growing up his mother would take him to libraries alot so he started to become very familiar with books at the early age of 4 and read alot as a child. He found himself intrigued with the Hardy Boys books, a staple of many of the readers I've encountered. His teen years led him to another fave (a book title I can't seem to read on my chicken scratch notes...but I can make out the first word "Handblown" haha)

It turns out that Mike has a dog pampering boutique called "Doggie Styles" in Beverly Hills. He absolutely adores dogs and if he were to write a book of his own it would be about the beloved 4-legged creatures. He reads tons of trade publications on dog breeds, training, grooming and the like. Mike owns 2 dogs himself - a 9 year old boxer and a french bulldog. Both are rescue dogs. Does he enter his pups into shows? "Oh no, not at all." Mike laughs. "They are work dogs...my shop greeters and product models on the site."


Edit: Mike was kind enough to email me about the book he mentioned during the interview that I could not remember for the life of me! His note below:

In case you lost any sleep trying to remember the other books I referred to during our conversation, they were the Horatio Hornblower works by C. S. Forester. These historical novels of British naval adventures follow protagonist Horatio Hornblower from his time as a midshipman to his appointment as an admiral. These books are set during the era of sailing ships when "Britain rules the waves." According to Wikipedia, these books were a favorite of Winston Churchill and of Ernest Hemingway alike.


Got a favourite book where the dog/s played a major roll in the novel? Makes me want to re-read Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows!!