Barney: The Stray Beagle Who Became a TV Star and Stole Our Hearts

If you lived in Central Indiana from the mid-90s to 2003 you probably saw Barney - Dick Wolfsie's canine sidekick and faithful companion for literally thousands of segments of the WISH-TV morning show. He wasn't a prop or a gag (he was too poorly trained for that) - he was his own man (!) on the show. He was goodwill ambassador and class clown and all beagle. This is a light-hearted book - full of Wolfsie's wonderful memories - the good and the bad. Really, it's a fluff piece - but this piece of fluff caused my eyes to tear up more than once as he spoke of the day his beloved Barney died and the immediate outpouring of love and concern that central Indiana expressed. Truly a wonderful little book - be prepared to laugh (my wife and I read parts of it to each other and enjoyed it all the more) but also have the tissues handy!

For those of us that grew up watching WISH-TV in the mornings, noon, evening and late night, we never can get enough. When you say WISH-TV, you think of two things: Mike Ahern and Barney. Two legends that will hardly be forgotten. For this book, it reminds of Barney, and all of the times we watched him on television and growing up with him as well. It explains his days of eating the world whole, which he did often, his love for children, and the man that could never love him enough, Dick Wolfsie. Reading this book gives you such a frog in your throat, you wish Barney never passed and that your children and grandchildren could see Barney forever. But we knew it had to happen, we just did not want to think it. While the rest of the country thinks of a purple dinosaur when you say Barney, we think of a dog, a friend that felt like he was our own, and this book reminded you of that fact. He was not only Mr. Wolfsie's best friend, but ours too. We thank you for the book Dick, and will greatly miss 'our' best friend. Thanks for the memories.