Street Roots • July 7-13, 2017
Above, Bob, the
street cat,
accompanies his
partner James
Bowen busking in
England. A t right,
Street Roots vendor
Loretta, with Mr.
B and Ms. H, her
kittens.
MOVIE, from page 4
selling The Big Issue, customers would gravitate to
Bob, as much for photos (with cameras not
smartphones, it was 2007) as to buy a paper. In the
movie, this initially backfires on James, after a well-
wisher insists on giving him money for a paper near
another vendor’s “patch” (at Street Roots, it’s called
“turf”). This gets James and Bob suspended for a
month.
As the movie plays, Dude continues to hiss
whenever Mr. B attempts to touch him, but it turns
out his real nemesis is onscreen. Every time Bob
meows in the movie, Dude lets out a fearsome
noise, perhaps because he can’t see or smell this
mysterious other creature.
“You know you’re yowling at a cat on the TV?”
Mistie teased.
Mistie suffers from hip dysplasia and is often in a
motorized wheelchair or using a walker. Just as Bob
spent most of his time selling papers from James’
neck and shoulders, Dude stays close to her. “He
loves riding on my chest,” she said. When she’s
moving around town in the wheelchair, he gets
strapped in on her lap.
Over the course of the film, Mistie and Loretta
also exchange cat-on-a-leash tips, while Mistie
wonders how James was able to get Bob to embrace
a certain sartorial touch that would be just as
appropriate in Portland as it is in London.
“I don’t know how he got his cat to wear scarves!”
she said. “I’ve tried.”
Mistie and her husband are still going through
what James, did, battling to get drug-free, sheltered
and employed. Like James and Bob in the movie,
Mistie and Dude have also experienced judgmental
pushback.
“They’re like, ‘well, do you think it’s good to have
him out here?,’ and I’m like, ‘what do you mean by
that?,”’ Mistie said.
“And they’re like, ‘well, you’re homeless.’ So? He
wouldn’t rather be anywhere besides my lap.
“I feel like the houseless people treat their pets
with more respect than anybody who has a house,”
Mistie continues. “People that live on the street
spend damn near 24/7 with their pets. People who
have a house, have a job, have so much stuff going
on in their life, they maybe spend nine to 12 hours.”
Mistie’s first dollar selling papers always goes to
Dude, and he knows it. “First sale, he’s looking at
me like, ‘OK, are we going to go get that food
now?,”’ she said. They also rely on pet food
banks like Pixie Project. The Sunday Potluck in
the Park at O’Bryant Square provides feline
News
vittles.
Before the move ends, Rick correctly predicts the
final act: he figures that James gets clean, gets
discovered, and then makes up with his family. The
“discovery” comes via an article in The Big Issue
and a meeting with some literary agents. Then, in
the film’s climactic reconciliation scene, James’
father (played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s
Anthony Head) refers to Bob as “my grandson.”
“Sweet,” Mistie said, while Loretta chuckles
softly. She and Andy are not on speaking terms with
one of their grown children, so it’s a moment that
hits home.
In real life, Bowen has used his moment in the
spotlight to promote the work of nonprofits,
including street papers, for the work they did to
support his recovery.
“What Bob the Cat did for James, he gave him
hope, and family - a connection,” Loretta said. “And
I think that’s what our cats have done for us. They
have as much rescued us. They’ve given us a sense
of joy. We’re a team.”
“It’s the best thing,” said Rick of animal
companionship. “They need loving. I need loving. So
it works out.”
Page 5
lames Bowenr the real-life
vendor from "Ä Street Cat
Warned Boh" says the movie
doessFl dwell on the darkest
times ©t his USe? hat loesses os
the im pact that support — fr o »
a oat or otherwise — oaa haw«
" C h ild r e n a n d lo e s s see th is
k in d o l s o c ia l problems^ Hike
drag addict!©» a»d homeless-
aessr la the real world« The
story of Bob and me Is a way
to explain to these yoaaasters
how snob sltaatlons arise,"
This has also influenced how
the film ends«
"We chose to focns on
change?" said Bowen« "That
change Is possible? even when
it looks gnlte hopeless« Ä1I yon
need Is someone who b e llo w s
In yon and supports yon« Who
helps yon bank o s your feet
and does not lose faith In ,yon
when yon stumble along the
way,
"Änd Fm not only talk
ing about Bob, 11 it wereidt
for w ln n ta ry ©rganlxatlons?
street papers and hostels for
the homeless? 1 would prob
ably h a w died before even
meeting Bob« The change that
took place bach then was that?
instead of last existing? jnst
s u w w b f j I really had a life«
That Is why I devote much
if my time to charitable
»uses, I want to give back
o a ll those organisations
and people who contributed
to me being here today,"
- sera skyr ®
E X C E R P T E D F R O M S T R E E T R O O T S ' SISTER
P A P E R E Q U A L O S L O iN N O R W A Y .
PH OTO BY
D IM IT R I K O U T S O M Y T I S