The Cat Who Chose To Dream
Two Cats and Blue Fish 2001
The Cat Who Chose To Dream by Loriene Honda, Ph.D. is based on the artwork of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani.
The story of Jimmy the Cat seems so relevant today when Tulsi Gabbard, 2020 Presidential Candidate, says the current administration is leading us into nuclear war.
Yikes!
Once again I read The Cat Who Chose To Dream by Loriene Honda, Ph.D. and experienced so many emotions as I struggled to remember the process of how the images were chosen and the story written. I went to www.MartinPearl.com and was horrified to find the website was non-functional.
Yikes!
I knew that Angelina McKinsey, Publisher, returned to her teaching career in order to “pay the bills” for the Dixon, California farm, which is home to Martin Pearl Publishing. No mention of shutting down Martin Pearl Publishing. I have had so many requests for The Cat Who Chose To Dream; I wanted to place a large order for the holidays.
My assistant said she would do the research and get me an answer. Her long-time partner, now deceased, was Japanese American and her step sister is a successful realtor in a western state, a story for another time. My assistant called Dr. Honda’s office phone and left a message that she was trying to reach Angelina McKinsey, Publisher, Martin Pearl Press and left my name and number.
The next morning Angelina called me as she drove to work for a busy day teaching PE (Physical Education) to a diverse and often unruly group of elementary school children, a job she loves dearly.
Jimmy Mirikitani’s work had many themes. Beauty and life-affirming fish, flowers, cats and landscapes, always signed and dated, often with a description in kanji, an Old Japanese writing system. The images above are Koi: 2001, The Cat with Blue Peony: 2001, Round Cat with Blue Eyes: 2006, and Mother Cat and Baby Cat: 2002.
Angelina and I spoke briefly about Jimmy Mirikitani, his angel Linda Hattendorf, The Cat Who Chose To Dream, and our current careers, hers in elementary education and mine as an activist author, publisher and virtual art gallery owner.
Back to Jimmy The Cat and his life at the Tule Lake Prison Camp during World War II. Jimmy The Cat prefers to remember Tule Lake in a positive light, as you can see from the following images of Jimmy Mirikitani’s Art.
The images of Tule Lake Concentration camp are Tule Lake With Artist: 2001, Tule Lake With Red Rock: 2001, Tule Lake With Sunbeams: 2002, Tule Lake in Winter: 2001 and Tule Lake With Open Gate: 2002.
Jimmy The Cat moves on to four images away from Tule Lake. Mount Fuji: 2001, Forest: 2001, Pink Peony: 2001 and Castle: 2001.
The Tiger: 2002 is Angelina’s personal favorite and also mine. Jimmy The Cat’s inspirational message:
“Like a snow tiger, he imagined himself as powerful and brave, on a thrilling adventure to explore new territory among the bamboo, keeping everyone who doubted his strength at a distance.”
Jimmy the Cat also loves the Dragon: 2001 another ferocious character in his Tule Lake experience:
“Like a ferocious dragon, Jimmy [the Cat] imagined he could blow huge puffy clouds of smoke, protectively shielding his family from the pain they had experienced for too long.”
The only image of Jimmy Mirikitani in The Cat That Chose To Dream is entitled Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, circa 1946, Photo contest of Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, Seabrook, New Jersey.
“Loriene Honda’s story of The Cat Who Chose To Dream is based on the artwork of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, who graciously gave her permission to reproduce his work in the year before he passed away.
For the purposes of this book, graphic designer Mark Deamer made slight alternations to many of Mirikitani’s original drawings to more clearly illustrate key themes and scenes. Many images are cropped, some elements were omitted or combined, and, in a few cases new elements were added.
Many of the originals may also be viewed in the traveling exhibition, The Art of Jimmy Mirikitani, curated by University Distinguished Professor of Art Emeritus Roger Shimomura, presented by the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle.”
Artist Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani Copyright @ Hiroko Masuike
“Artist Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani was born in Sacramento, California in 1920 and raised in Hiroshima, Japan. He began making art when he was only five years old, and as a young adult studied with renowned artists Gyokudo Kawai and Buzan Kimura in Japan. He returned to the United States to pursue a career in art just before the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. During WW II, he was held for nearly four years in what became the Tule Lake Segregation Center in northern California. After the war, he made his way to New York City to resume his career in art. In 2001, filmmaker Linda Hattendorf found him living homeless on street corner in Soho. Her award-winning documentary film, The Cats of Mirikitani (2006) brought attention to his story and his art.”
Author Loriene Honda, PhD
“Author Loriene Honda, PhD - whose own father was held at the Manzanar “Relocation” Center as a teenager - practices child and adolescent psychotherapy. Dr. Honda has a private practice in Davis, California, where she resides with her husband and their three children.
Dr. Honda was inspired to write this book after being touched by Jimmy’s spritely honor and incredible resilience in the face of his traumatic experiences.”
Author’s Note: All of the images in The Cat That Chose to Dream were chosen to reflect the power of positivity, necessary to heal trauma. Much of Jimmy’s work reflects the dark side of World War II.
Many Japanese Americans left the camps stronger for the experience and went on to build successful lives. This was not true for all former prisoners, or their children or grandchildren. We will explore these issues at another time.
Thank You for The Cat Who Chose To Dream. A note from Edithy Marcellis, Patron of the Arts, lover of books, theater, music, history, and good food and wine. A charming and beautiful woman who just celebrated her ninetieth birthday.
“I always have the power to free my mind.”
