Slone’s Book Revives Story of Town Hound

Donna Slone smiled as she talked about a friend she had not seen in more than 30 years.

She said her friend knew everyone in Jackson and was a frequent guest at City Hall, the bank, and other local businesses.  Her friend was unlike the others she had known because he had long, floppy ears and a wet nose, and all those who knew him loved him for it.

Mooch was the “town dog,” Slone explained.

Her recently published book helps preserve the memory of the four-legged friend that many on Picnic Hill and around Jackson grew up with.

“I wrote this story 20 plus years ago, and life got in the way,” Slone said in a recent interview.  “I never got around to publishing it.  I took it to the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop, and the faculty there just went wild over it.”

Slone said she always wanted to publish it, but “life got in the way, and so about, five months ago, my sister, Sherry Johnson, urged me to publish the story of Mooch.”

The search for an illustrator to help bring the story to life started.  The first illustrator was booked for the year and could not work Mooch into her schedule, but she referred Slone to Sevgi Master near Nashville. 

 “She said, send me the story, let me read it,” Slone said.  “And she just went, fell in love with him.  And so, we worked together, we worked on the phone or by text daily for about four months.”

Slone, a prolific photographer, sent Master photos of people involved in the story.  Master drew images of many in Jackson, including Lester Smith, Sanford Chaney, and others who were part of Mooch’s life.

It all came together, and Mooch: In His Own Voice was published on Amazon on December 11, 2025.

“I was thrilled,” Slone said. “I was just thrilled.

Slone smiled her largest smile when she talked about how Mooch came into the family. 

“The book is dedicated to Lester, because without him, we would not have had Mooch,” Slone told The Jackson Times-Voice.  “He woke in the middle of the night, shook me awake, and said, We need to get a basset hound and name it Mooch.”

“I don't know if he dreamed that or what,” she said as she laughed.  “I never did know.”

She said the following Sunday, the Lexington Herald-Leader had an ad for basset hounds in Lexington.

“So, we drove, we called, and we drove down there that morning,” the first-time author said.  “She only had one left, and she said, he's the smallest, he's the runt of the litter.”

The owner said, “If you want him, that is fine, and if you don't, I'll understand.”

Slone's husband, Lester Smith, knelt and the puppy ran right to him, and Lester said, “This is exactly what we want,” Lester told the woman, and they brought the puppy back to Jackson.

Slone originally wrote the story of Mooch from the perspective of her five-year-old son, John Lester Smith, but she said she realized that John Lester would not be with him all the time.  So, she changed the narrator to Mooch himself, allowing the reader to fully explore the world of Jackson through his eyes.

Slone talked about the many friends that the Smiths knew in Jackson, days at the Dairy Whip, the Jackson Pool, and at Jackson City School.  She recalled that Mooch “had as many friends and maybe more” than we enjoyed.

“Mooch had a good life,” Slone said.  “It was filled with love and lots of kids around.”

After fifteen years with the family, Mooch died and was buried on the family property near her daughter, Barbara Smith’s, playhouse on Picnic Hill in a pet coffin supplied by a local funeral home and lined with a family quilt.

There is no marker, but several pods of Easter Lilies planted by Lester and Barbara mark the grave.

She chose to leave that part out of the book because the “children don't want to see that.”

“I don't say he died in the end,” Slone said.  “I just say that he and Barbara would lie out or sit out by her playhouse, and she would remind him of all the stories of his life.”

A book signing is planned for the Breathitt County Public Library, and some local retail outlets will also have copies of the book in the coming months.

“Mooch was just the whole town dog,” Slone said.

She smiled one last big smile when asked if she was happy to have his memory preserved for generations of kids to enjoy.

“Very happy,” she said. “Very.” 

The book, Mooch: In His Own Voice, is currently available for purchase on Amazon in paperback form and is a 54-page children’s book.  The work features forty-four full-color illustrations that depict Jackson and the challenges a “runt puppy” can face, and more importantly, how he overcame them all with love and community. 

While primarily a kids’ book, Slone says it can be fun for adults too, especially anyone who knew and loved the most famous Bassett Hound to ever live in Jackson.