It’s been my honor to rescue 2000 Great Pyrenees dogs over the past 25 years. And I have recently been given an even greater honor. I was proclaimed by the Royal Family of France to the the “Lord Protector” of the Pyrenees Mountain dogs in North America. The honor was bestowed upon me in recognition of the massive amount of dedication to the breed and their welfare.

 

Sept 21, 2024: I am just receiving word of this proclamation. Details are coming in.

What it means

I have been granted certain rights, including but not limited to:

Protecting Great Pyrenees in North America. PERIOD. Whatever it takes to protect and preserve the breed. Heads will roll.

Bestowing titles to followers and fellow rescuers who prove their worthiness

so far, this list includes

Bill Kennedy (Duke of Brooklyn)

Ani Buraglia Fernandez (Grand Duchess )

Shannon Valentine Sanders/Tim Sander(Duke and Duchess of Peppermint Hill)

Sandi Disher Fisher ( Duchess of Pyrenees/Catfish)

Terri Duckett (Duchess)

Nancy B Sayle (Duchess of LALA Land)

Grace Mynatt (Duchess of Chevrolet)

Richard Teague (Earl of PorkChop)

Margaret Lauren Ederer (Queen Mother)

Nancy Kirkpatrick (Duchess of OBX/Hollywood)

Cecille Ennis (Duchess of Mecklenburg)

Lady Leslie Ennis (Duchess of Providence)

Lady Francis Ennis (Duchess of Lecho Park)

Stephanie Lourmais (Grand Duchess of Orleans)

Lori Bon Klaudt Latevola (Duchess of Charlotte)

Donna Boston Ross (Lady of the Grey House)

Lady Anne Beasley/Lord Frank Beasley

Lady Pamela Whitney/Lord John

Lady Helen Gabriel (Duchess of Hanover)

Sir Richard Bentley (Earl of Hickory)

Nicky Lisewsk (Grand Duchess of Dakota)

Grand Dame Pegi Black

Deborah Walker Robinson

Constable Tim Binkley

Court Wizard Joe Why

 

How this came to pass

 

This honor was a result of a lifetime of random events that all had a common theme. Dogs and France. Also, ties to England, Spain and Italy. It culminated with my relationship with Lady Margaret. A consortium of acquaintances that met over the years(on the internet, connected by my Facebook page. ) They held discussions(secret to me) for over 10 years and finally concluded that an announcement was to be made. Negotiations are still underway as to how the process will work.

I first saw Lady Margaret in France in 1993. She was attending the Vienne Jazz Festival. I was running lights for Millie Jackson at both of the  festival. The encounter was brief, but unforgettable.I saw her a few days later at the Jazz à Vienne festival. It was an outdoor festival and she was there with 4 of her Great Pyrenees. I spoke briefly with her, and enjoyed watching her take in the music and the sun, lounging like royalty among the commoners. That’s accomplished easily when you have 4 huge dogs to bring in your picnic baskets, complete with lounge chairs and dining supplies. Her ‘ladies in waiting’ should have been a clue as to her royalty, but I was only focused on the grand image that she projected. She made ‘camp’ right in front of my lighting console. After Milli’s opening act concluded, I performed my stage duties (drums, guitars and keyboards) and returned to the center of the field, totally unneeded, and stood around with the LD for BB King until I saw an opportunity to walk over to approach Lady Margaret. We spoke briefly, mostly enjoyed the show and the music. The dogs layed all around us, enjoying the show and the wonderful music of BB King. He has a huge following in Europe, as well as the rest of the world. His roots are from the French Quarter in New Orleans. After the show, I accompanied Lady Margaret backstage and I introduced her to the Tour Manager for BB King and he took her in for a brief introduction to the “King of Blues”. I found out later, they EXCHANGED autographs.

 

 

When I saw her again in 1996, she was strolling down the The Avenue des Champs-Elysée in Paris. The most beautiful woman that you can imagine with her 2 huge Great Pyrenees.

 

Later in 1996, I was shocked when I walked into a little shop in Alpharetta, GA and was greeted by ‘Pegi’, her Americanized name. She operated this store to and sold items from her “My Paris Apartment”. And lots of things that she procured from French contacts. It was amazing. About that time, I rescued my first Great Pyrenes . Chloe ‘Andrea’ LeFluer . I was walking Chloe a few days later and Pegi drove by in her Mercedes convertible with her 2 of her rescued Great Pyrenees. She pulled over and we chatted extensively and I found out that she rescued Great Pyrenees.  She had 16 at the time. Housed on her vineyard propery up in Dahlonega, Ga and her equestrian farm in Milton/Alpharetta GA. And she told me about the Metro Atlanta Great Pyrenees Club. She invited me to a meeting, nominated me to be President and I won! I took over the club and began to change their focus from breeding to rescuing. We rescued 57 that first year, more than they had rescued in 20 years previous. Pegi had mentioned that she volunteered for Orchestra Atlanta, so I attended a concert where I found her at the concession booth. She told me about their upcoming board meeting, so I went. She nominated me to be on their “Board of Directors” and it was approved. Her support and confidence in me was truly above anything I had ever experienced.

So, my day job, International Business Development for Computone Corporation took me all over the world, including Paris. We were vendors for a huge project, involving traffic control for the Paris outer loop “Le Periphique”. I visited Paris several times and was able to meet up with “Lady Margaret” at the ‘Tour Eifel” for dinner at Le Jules Verne  restaraunt. Magnifique! Margaret and I had very intertwined relationship. her husband Mike was awesome and very supporting of her many, many hobbies and passions. Dog(Great Pyrenees), wine, champagne, Classical music and BEACH MUSIC. She convinced Orchestra Atlanta to put on a summer concert series every year to raise funds for the all volunteer orchestra . Swingin Medallions, Band of Oz, Chairmen of the Board and numerous others. I was ‘volunteered’ into becoming the production manager for the series, which I did for 3 summers.

At about the same time, I was also volunteering for Dr Andy Stanley’s “North Point Community Church” in Alpharetta. I did that for 5 years. Wonderful times and it’s where I met Michael Fields, owner of Portabella’s restaraunt.