Digging up the facts on John Grogan

January 3, 8:26 AMSanta Barbara Pet ExaminerKaren Lee Stevens

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John Grogan courtesy photo

Raising a puppy is a lot like growing a garden: both need an abundance of good food, plenty of water, and the warmth of the sun in order to thrive. Perhaps no one knows this better than John Grogan, the former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine, and the author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog (Marley & Me, the movie, bounded into theatres on Christmas Day). The memoir, which was firmly planted on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year, takes a lighthearted, often poignant look at marriage, family and of course, Marley, an incorrigible, lovable Labrador Retriever.

Marley’s tale begins innocently enough. John and Jenny Grogan are newlyweds living and working as newspaper reporters in a South Florida town. One day, for no particular reason other than to say, ‘Isn’t married life great?,’ Jenny’s husband presents her with a houseplant, which she promptly kills.

“My wife didn’t exactly have a green thumb,” acknowledges the down-to-earth author, when I interviewed him in Santa Barbara during a whirlwind book tour. The lovely dieffenbachia, it turns out, was a symbol of Jenny’s ability – or inability – to nurture a living being. Jenny had long been considering having children, but had second thoughts after she couldn’t even keep a plant alive. But wait, there was another way to prepare for parenthood, she thought: get a puppy. She began perusing the classifieds and soon found the ad she had been looking for.

That’s when things started to get a bit hairy.

Little could the Grogans have known that the powerful pup they selected would quickly sprout into a 97-pound behemoth who had issues with, well, just about everything. Screen doors? Plowed right through them like a locomotive. Fine jewelry? Ate gold bracelets like they were candy. Drool? Definitely for flinging at guests. And don’t even bring up the topic of thunder. Marley was so terrified of the earsplitting sounds that he would try and dig his way to safety…..usually through doors and drywall.

Still, with all his foibles, Marley was a much-loved member of the Grogan family. Over the years, he was there to celebrate the couple’s joy at their first pregnancy – and their heartache over the miscarriage. Later, he not only helped welcome three babies into the household, but he became the children’s furry friend and protector as well.

Everyone has their limits, though, and John acknowledges that there was a time when his wife insisted they find another home for Marley.

“It was a serious crisis for us that went on for several weeks,” he recalls. “Except for that one time, though, we just accepted Marley for what he was and accepted the damage and embarrassments he caused. The honest truth is that many of his antics we found to be cute. It was hard not to laugh when we’d catch him misbehaving.”

Marley passed away one icy winter day at the age of 13 and John buried his beloved buddy between two big, native cherry trees on the family’s property in rural Pennsylvania. The hyped-up hound will never be forgotten, either by the Grogans, or the thousands of readers who were introduced to him through Marley & Me.

“Marley taught us to accept those we love for what they are, flaws and all,” John says. “He showed us the priceless value of unconditional love and of loyalty and devotion.”