While he used to veto bills, today the words “veto” and “bill” have a different meaning for former Governor Nathan Deal, and he hopes the same can apply to children.
The 82nd governor of Georgia has published his first children’s book, told entirely from the perspective of his real-life cats named Veto and Bill.
In “Veto, The Governor’s Cat,” the pets recount their move from life as kittens on a farm, to life as residents of the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta, to Deal’s house in Habersham County, where they spend time in the woods on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.
Along the way, they meet human and furry friends, some of whom they must leave behind and others they have just met. Deal hopes this story can help the children who read it as they go through similar experiences, from moving and coping with loss to finding new friends and courage.
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“I want them to understand that it was a big transition for Vito to go from a farm where he was a kitten to the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta, and then from there he left and came to my home in Habersham County on the banks of the Chattooga River.”
“Moving can be a traumatic experience for kids sometimes,” Deal told Scripps News. “But I think the most important motto above all is don’t be afraid. Fear, I think, is one of the things that holds so many kids back from reaching their potential.”
During his two terms as governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019, Deal frequently advocated for improving the literacy rate among the state’s children, a cause his wife, Sandra, also championed.
As First Lady of Georgia and a former public school teacher, Sandra read to children in more than 1,000 classrooms, reaching out to every district and school system. Even after Deal left office, his wife still received requests to read in schools and libraries, according to the former governor.
“So she told me, ‘I’ve read all the books I have. I want you to write me one,'” Deal told Scripps News. “Well, you know, we husbands promise our wives that if we don’t have a deadline, we’ll do anything.”
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Deal said he didn’t act on the request until Sandra was diagnosed with brain cancer. Then he got to work and was able to read the original draft of the book to his wife, who “liked it and gave me the green light” to publish it, Deal said.
Sandra died of cancer in August 2002, but the book remained largely in its original form until publishers asked him to use his imagination to delve deeper into part of the story.
To get to know this story, and hear how Deal introduces his characters — with different accents, we might add — and what he thinks about the current political climate, watch the full interview above.
