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You recognize their names and faces: television anchor, popular family entertainer, theater impresario and more. But who really gets to know those you think you know, and who gets to see when local notables let down their guards?
Their pets, of course.
Sunday News staff writer Stephen Kopfinger asked some local celebrities about the critters that share their homes, that provide a warm "woof" or "meow" — or sometimes a cackle! — at the end of a long day. Be they furry or feathered, these animal friends have personalities as distinctive as their human companions. Read on, fellow pet lovers, and enjoy!
Local celebrities and their pets
Steven Courtney
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
It doesn't matter to Steven Courtney and his wife, Joyce; they have the whole package in a chicken named Lois. Their unconventional pet provides companionship and eggs for the couple, who live near Manheim.
Steven Courtney is a children- and family-oriented singer, songwriter and operator of a recording studio/production company, Folktowne Studio; he admitted he never thought he'd have a chicken as a pet.
"I grew up on a farm in Michigan. We had 150,000 laying hens," he recalled. When the thought of having another clucker in his life was raised in the Courtney household, his initial reaction, he said, was: "You don't want chickens."
That's chickens, plural.
Lois, named for Joyce Courtney's grandmother — who had chickens! — used to have a partner, Neva, who met her demise a year ago. The Courtneys believe Neva succumbed to a dog or red-tailed hawk. Lois, who has her own house in the Courtney's backyard, roams the couple's property, but knows better than to hang out for long in open spaces, Steven said.
Believed to be a New Hampshire Red, Lois has her practical side. "She lays these beautiful brown eggs — they're so fresh!" Joyce said.
The Courtneys are winners in another way: Every year at Easter, relatives gather on their spacious hillside yard for an "egg roll" — and Lois' formidable eggs seem to not just survive the trip downhill, but win.
"Lois has produced some championship eggs!" Steven said.
The craziest thing about Lois: "She's shows up in weird places," Joyce said. "She's started roosting on the front porch."
"That kind of freaks people out," Steven said. "Some people have a watchdog; we have a watch chicken!"
Advice for potential chicken owners: "Make sure you've got an acre of yard!" Steven said.
What makes Lois lovable: "She follows me around," Joyce said. Steven Courtney agreed. "She's very dog-like!"
Ed Fernandez
The two cats who share a home with Ed Fernandez have star quality. And why not? One likes to act out; the other resembles the cat Audrey Hepburn cuddled in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's." And Fernandez himself has more than a passing showbiz connection; he's artistic director at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
Three-year-old Boomer, jet black and "a terror," as Fernandez calls him, and 5-year-old Marbles, who is "like a teddy bear — I call him 'Love Kitty,' " Fernandez said — make themselves quite comfortable in his Ephrata apartment, playing, sunning and sometimes trying to establish who's boss.
"The pecking order is very funny," Fernandez said. "Marbles can be in the bed with me and Boomer can't." But Boomer finds other ways to get attention. "He has successfully broken every knickknack," Fernandez said. "He's just bad!" As for Marbles, he's "probably the most affectionate cat. You can use him for a pillow!"
Mild Marbles is: "A talker. He just loves affection. He's just a mellow dude."
Bad Boomer: "Bites my feet." Also, Fernandez said, "He sits up, like a person ... on his butt, with a straight back!"
But he's endearing because: "I think it's his naughtiness!"
Susan Shapiro
Susan Shapiro, longtime reporter at WGAL-TV Channel 8 and anchor of "News 8 at Noon," says she has always been a dog person. That's not surprising; in the early 1990s, Shapiro won multiple awards for an investigative piece on Lancaster County's puppy mills.
And it's also not surprising she has canine companions of her own at home: Skipper, a "going on 4" wire-haired terrier, and Marcus, a 3-year-old mix who came to Shapiro's home after he was spotted in the Sunday News feature "Pet of the Week" in August 2008. Skipper had joined the household earlier, after a friend spotted an ad for him. At the time, Shapiro's household was without a dog; she had lost her Cairn terrier to leptospirosis, an infectious disease.
Things are happier today.
Marcus, the smaller of the two dogs, often grabs Skipper's tail when he wants to play. A nearby lot provides a safe place to romp, which both dogs do at breakneck speed.
"They both have terrier in them, so they are both known to be a little hyper," Shapiro said. Still, she added, "They like to curl up with you!"
The craziest thing my dogs do: "In addition to the trash, they get into the laundry. [I'll] find laundry scattered around the house — socks and unmentionables!"
Their best qualities: "They give kisses. They cuddle. ... They keep your feet warm!"
What makes them lovable: "Just look at those faces!"
Janice Longer
These days, not many stock market deals end happily. But that's not the case for attorney Janice Longer and her horse, Arbitrage.
Longer, of Kirkwood, gave the 28-year-old thoroughbred — who once raced in Delaware — his name because, she said, "I sold stock to buy him." That was 21 years ago, and Longer has treasured every day with Arbitrage ever since.
"We've been together a long time," Longer said as she patted the gentle giant during a recent ride. "I try not to think about life without him."
Arbitrage has plenty of company on his Kirkwood farm. There's his fellow equine companion, Shadow, a Morgan who is "not so well-behaved," Longer admitted. There's also a mother hen with five new hatchlings, some barn cats and a pointer dog, Rex. "Having a bird dog and raising chickens is kind of a challenge," Longer mused.
With his gentle demeanor, Arbitrage "is too kind to be a race horse," Longer said. Her time with Arbitrage and his animal friends on a farm miles from Longer's city office is, she said, "my decompression time. It's quiet and peaceful. It's an absolute tonic."
Arbitrage's best quality: "He's always been a very kind horse. There's not a nasty bone in his body. ... He likes children, too."
Something people might not know: "Some horses can live to be 40." And, "They love the snow! They do!"
Why I love my horse: "I don't ask a lot of him and he doesn't demand a lot from me."
John Graupera
It's hard to believe Ruby is slowing down.
She rolls on the floor, playing with a tennis ball. She romps with the two little girls with whom she shares a home. And she can gobble a treat like nobody's business.
Ruby is a 13-year-old brown and white Brittany. She's the beloved pet of J.P. McCaskey teacher and Lancaster City Democratic Chairman John Graupera, his wife, Candy, and their 7-year-old twins Candace and Mia.
"She's just always been there for us," said Graupera, who noted that Ruby joined the family when she was 12 weeks old.
Ruby's affection for a well-chewed tennis ball dates back to her younger days.
"My wife and I play a lot of tennis," Graupera said. "She was our ball dog," he said of Ruby's penchant for fetching wayward tennis balls that strayed from the game. "She saved us a lot of energy!"
Ruby did her best to sit still for a newspaper photograph, but, Graupera admitted, "She's not a lap dog." Though her hearing isn't what it used to be, she can still sense when someone is coming home. It's her loyalty that endears Ruby to the Graupera household.
"We never had to worry about her running off," Graupera said.
What Candace loves about Ruby: "She would sometimes lead the way for me. I'd see her in the dark, and she'd be there for me."
And Mia loves Ruby because: "She follows me. She's always there for me."
