Don Loprieno

In January 2001, Don Loprieno moved to Bristol, Maine from New York’s lower Hudson Valley where he was manager of Stony Point Battlefield, a Revolutionary War site that gave its name to The Stony Point Whisker Club, an exclusive (and somewhat whimsical) organization. Its president and co-founder was Cato, an elegant feline of regal bearing who was the soul of playfulness, as well as the essence of quiet comradeship, and who regarded himself (rightly in his view) as the only cat in the world.

The Whisker Club had certain hirsute requirements which both Don and Cato were able to meet, and, like all such private groups, had several arcane rituals, most of which cannot be revealed here, except to say that a secret paw shake and a meow of a certain pitch were among them.

The most important requirement for membership, however, was the ability to form a lasting bond between human and animal. The relationship that developed is one that many others have experienced – a life shared between two companions, an affection and kinship stronger than that sometimes found in our own species.

The Stony Point Whisker Club is the story of that special journey. In 2004, Don wrote The Enterprise in Contemplation, the first complete account of the battle of Stony Point in more than a hundred years. He has also become a strong advocate of animal rights – and, in particular, a friend to all cats.