When a yellow and white tabby cat appeared on her doorstep one night, Washington not only fed the stray kitty and gave her a home, she bought her her very own condo—not the kind you get at the pet store but a real one with a walls, windows, and eight-foot ceilings. She’s told the story of Miss Penny, the cat who came to dinner and stayed, in a new book for children titled, appropriately, Miss Penny’s Condo.

“The idea for the book really took off when I would tell people that I had bought a condo for my cat. First of all, they didn’t believe me, but this is a true story—with a bit of fantasy in the middle when the human friend, Nancy, goes to work and we find out how Miss Penny spends her day,” said Washington, director of publications for University Libraries.

The second condo provided not only a spacious home for Miss Penny but also much needed extra space for Washington, who has lived in her condo for several years and has accumulated lots of things, especially books.

“Many people who need more space would build on to the back of the house, but if you live in a condo, you can’t do that,” she said. “So, when the condo right across the hall became available, I found a way to get more space, and it coincided with the appearance of Miss Penny.”

A separate kitty condo also saved the grasscloth on Washington’s living room walls, which Miss Penny loved to scratch, and her delicate hand-braided rugs, which Miss Penny used to sharpen her claws.

“It wasn’t very long after she first appeared, maybe a month, that I bought the condo,” said Washington, who visited Miss Penny’s condo every morning to drink her coffee and read the newspaper and every evening to play games such as Catch the Feather Duster. “It just worked out, and it was amusing to say it was Miss Penny’s condo.”

Brooke Stillwell, who used to work for USC’s Distance Education and Instructional Support, did the graphic design. Nancy Carroll King, a friend of Washington’s, illustrated the book with drawings of Miss Penny dialing an old-fashioned rotary phone, playing Canasta with her friend Mitzy, watching her soaps, and, of course, napping in a sunny spot.

“I love the illustrations,” Washington said. “Nancy has caught the personality of Miss Penny—her body and the different poses that cats take. Illustrations make a children’s book. That’s what attracts people. The cover with the yellow cat with the big smile on her face—it just draws you in.”

Washington self-published the book, and Wentworth Printing printed 200 limited first editions. For a copy, call Washington at 7-2166 or e-mail her at nancyhw@gwm.sc.edu

“It’s appropriate for early childhood all the way up to adults,” Washington said. “Third graders could read it on their own, or an adult could read it to a child of any age. The story is timeless.”

Sadly, Miss Penny passed away over the holidays, but her memory will live on in Miss Penny’s Condo. “She loved her condo,” Washington said. “To me, all kinds of pets are good company. Miss Penny certainly was.”

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