A man and his cat share adventures and a bond that transcends all others.
By: Susan Van Dongen
How does a red-blooded American man a fantasy baseball aficionado, a dater of leggy Danish models, a screenwriter, an author of thrillers and an avowed cat hater come to love a little gray kitty?
This was the story of Peter Gethers’ life before he was introduced to a Scottish Fold kitten he dubbed "Norton," after Art Carney’s character in The Honeymooners.
In his previous life, Mr. Gethers was pleased to be pet-free. He joked that unless he could find a dog that fed and cleaned up after itself or a cat that could be taught to fetch, there would be no four-legged friends to worry about while he went on his many trips. A mover and shaker in the film industry, Mr. Gethers was happily untethered to an animal companion.
That changed when a girlfriend brought him an extraordinary kitten with folded ears.
"As soon as this little cat mewed up at me from her hand, I knew that Norton had arrived," Mr. Gethers says. "I knew one other thing, too. It was love at first sight."
Man and cat would go on to adventures abroad and transatlantic flights, share dinners at five-star restaurants, enjoy ski weekends in Vermont and beachy summers on Fire Island all together. So mellow and cooperative was the feline and so transformed was his owner that an editor friend suggested Mr. Gethers write about their partnership. He did, penning The Cat Who Went to Paris (Ballantine Books, 1992), followed by the best-selling A Cat Abroad (Ballantine Books, 1994) and The Cat Who’ll Live Forever (Broadway Books, 2001).
Now all three novels are bound together in one volume, The Norton Trilogy (Barnes & Noble, $9.98), and Mr. Gethers has hit the road with two new Scottish Folds. (Norton passed away a few years ago.) Mr. Gethers will be at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor Dec. 1 to sign the book and introduce fans to his feline friends, Harper and Hud named after Paul Newman characters.
"Norton wooed me very quickly," says Mr. Gethers, speaking from his home in Manhattan. "He did it with many people, in fact. There were instances of Norton being around people who were terrified of cats but 15 minutes later, they’d be holding him. He was magical in that regard."
After Norton won Mr. Gethers’ heart, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the little guy home. So the cat learned to take taxis, ride the ferry to Fire Island, accompany his owner to the market, stroll on the beach, even cajole the canines at the dog run in Washington Square Park. Amazingly adaptable and even-tempered, Norton had an uncanny ability to size up prospective girlfriends.
"He was a major babe magnet," Mr. Gethers says. "But he had much better taste than I did. I was a sucker for looks, but he saw underneath, into the person’s heart. I learned to trust his judgment."
The Scottish Fold was first bred in the early ’60s northwest of Dundee, Scotland. The cat is unusual because its ears fold forward and down, giving it an owlish or teddy bear appearance. Mr. Gethers writes that Norton was purchased from a breeder for $300 but they can cost $1,500 and upward today.
He says they’re especially good with people and, indeed, if it had been another kind of cat a mouthy Siamese or a macho Manx he would be a different person, perhaps one without several best-selling novels to his name.
A successful screenwriter at the time, Mr. Gethers says he wasn’t thinking about writing a "cat book." But when an editor heard about Norton prowling around Paris with his owner, she knew it would be a great story.
"She called my agent and suggested a book about a bon vivant who travels around the world with his cat," Mr. Gethers says. "I just liked the idea of being a ‘bon vivant.’
"These books really are about myself not Norton but it’s funny because the cat softens me and makes me much more malleable," he continues. "I can get away with my ego. I think if I was just writing about myself without the cat, my ego would be unbearable."
Because Mr. Gethers is so immersed in the film industry and pop culture, the book has all kinds of references to TV show characters and movie moments. One time when Norton hesitates to walk in beach sand seems terrified, in fact Mr. Gethers imagines him as Jimmy Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces.
"Norton dies yellow!" he writes.
"That’s the way I think," he says with a chuckle. "The first book was published in a number of different languages and when it was translated into Japanese, their translator would ask me all these questions, like ‘Who is Alfred E. Newman?’ There are references to everyone and everything from Kierkegaard to ‘Mad’ magazine. The foreign publishers were bewildered."
In addition to writing the "Norton" books, Mr. Gethers is a novelist, screenwriter and book publisher. Under the pseudonym Russell Andrews, he is the author of four best-selling thrillers. He was recently named president of the newly formed Random House Films, acting as a liaison between the publisher and Focus Features.
He lives Manhattan and Sag Harbor with Harper and Hud, whom Mr. Gethers says are "charming, but not geniuses."
Although Norton was special, he wasn’t immortal. After being diagnosed with cancer, Mr. Gethers knew he’d have to prepare for the end of his animal friend’s life. He was already writing The Cat Who’ll Live Forever, knowing that Norton would live on in print even after he had passed away.
Right at the end, the author took the feline on trips to Monticello and some of his other favorite places, "his farewell tour," Mr. Gethers says.
He also thought often about how to end Norton’s life peacefully.
"We had such a close bond that I knew putting him to sleep would be devastating to me," Mr. Gethers says. "When we knew he was very, very sick, my girlfriend had to make that appointment I cried too hard. That was a Friday, and I asked my girlfriend to leave us alone that last night.
"About 1:30 in the morning I awoke… and I could hear him coughing," he writes. "I put my hand on his head, softly and as gently as I was able. I took him out of the covers, picked him up and cradled him in my arms. As I did, he began purring. We sat that way for about half an hour while I stroked him and kissed him and told him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. And then Norton showed me how much he loved me."
The cat died in Mr. Gethers’ arms, which he says spared him the agony of having to drive Norton to the vet for euthanasia.
"I was pretty squeamish about death, but Norton made it gentle and warm," he says. "He made it part of life instead."
Mr. Gethers had an overwhelming response to Norton’s death, receiving thousands of letters from fans and heartfelt condolences from legions of friends, who insisted on a funeral, held at the author’s home in Sag Harbor.
"It amazes me how people still react it’s like Norton was a member of their family," he says. "I’m not a spiritual or a mystical person, but I truly believe that the cat found me, I had nothing to do with it. I give him credit for everything in my life. He was a genius, smart enough to know that, even though I really didn’t want a cat, I absolutely had to have him."
Peter Gethers will sign The Norton Trilogy at Barnes & Noble, MarketFair, 3535 Route 1 South, West Windsor, Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m. For information, call (609) 716-1570. On the Web: www.bn.com

