Otus the Head Cat

Otus the Head Cat is a weekly newspaper humor and commentary column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by Michael Storey.^[1] The column, which initially ran on the newspaper's Voices page, was inspired by Storey's very vocal half-Siamese family cat who would sit next to Storey's typewriter and "talk" to him as he worked. Otus died in 1992 at the age of 17.

Storey began the column in 1980 as a commentary on life's oddities and a parody of news and opinion that appeared in the pages of the then-Arkansas Democrat. The column was the idea of Storey's future wife, Celia, a copy editor at the paper. She was asked by then-managing editor John R. Starr what, in lieu of a pay raise, would keep Storey happy at the paper. She told him having his own column would be a good idea. Starr agreed and Otus the Head Cat joined the paper's columnists.

In spite of three decades of being published each Saturday and a very blunt disclaimer at the close of each column, the writing style and authoritative faux facts frequently confuse casual readers and have resulted in numerous controversies.

Among the more notable subjects of the column are the arrival of the annual "humidity pods" from the Gulf of Mexico to the Little Rock area, signaling the sticky start of summer; bow hunting squads to deal with organized gangs of urban deer; piranha in one of the state's lakes; President Richard Nixon's proclaiming Washington's Birthday as Presidents' Day so he, too, could be honored; the colorful life of the first "transmorphodite" Miss Arkansas contestant; ceding Texarkana and Miller County, Arkansas to Texas, and stories of local political issues gone wild. Also popular is Otus' coverage of the "North Little Rock Navy," which even has its own World War II submarine, the U.S.S. Razorback. Otus speculates the sub might be deployed against the larger city of Little Rock across the Arkansas River.

The Razorback columns are examples of the fact-bending fun of Otus. Those unfamiliar with the circumstances might assume it's unlikely that a city so far inland would actually have a submarine at anchor. In reality, the former U.S. Navy attack sub was purchased by North Little Rock for its Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum, making it one of the few privately owned static displays in the country. Once the reader realizes that the submarine is real, the further bizarre twists of Otus columns seem more believable.

In the mid-1980s Otus was the "celebrity spokescat" for the state's Adopt a Cat month campaign. Here Otus and Michael Storey meet then-Gov. Bill Clinton at a June 1984 proclamation ceremony at the Capitol.

The column follows the same format each week. A fabricated reader sends in a letter asking for an explanation of an event or circumstance. For example, the incredible staying power of Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe's hairdo no matter how strong the wind. Otus always begins his reply with the phrase "It is wholly a pleasure to hear from you" as an homage to the Democrat-Gazette's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor, Paul Greenberg. The catch phrase is used by Greenberg in his own letters columns. When Greenberg took over the Editorial and Voices pages in 1992, one of his first moves was to remove the Otus column from its long-time home on the Voices Page. The column ended up in the Features section. Each column ends with a reference to Kalaka. According to Otus myth and legend, Kalaka is the celestial supervisor of Otus and other Head Cats around the country. The name Kalaka came from the term given to carpooling in a Mel Brooks "2000 Year Old Man" public service announcement for gasoline conservation in the late 1970s.

The real Otus the Head Cat has long passed to the great beyond—there is a halo over his logo photo—and he occasionally refers to being dead.

References

1. ^ Otus the Head Cat, weekly column

External links

• Otus the Head Cat, weekly column