The Story Behind Never Mind and Duke the Deaf Dog

Have you wondered if Duke is based on a real dog?

Answers to that burning question and more are here for you today! Recently I was a guest on a Canadian podcast called The Stuph File Program with Peter Anthony Holder, and today I’m sharing the transcript from our conversation. Peter is a 35-year broadcast veteran, including a 20-year run as the host of a late night Montreal radio show and a former television news anchor/reporter.

The Stuph File Program is an eclectic show featuring interviews from all walks of life and some of the oddest news stories you’ll ever hear.  I hope you enjoy our interview. The complete show can be found at The Stuph File podcast Episode #552

The Stuph File: This is an exclusive excerpt from the Stuph File program with Peter Anthony Holder. Kelly Brakenhoff is a mystery and children’s author who has a new book out called Never Mind. She’s also an American Sign Language interpreter. And within the story you can learn 10 ASL signs. Kelly joins us via Skype from Lincoln, Nebraska. Hi Kelly.

Kelly: Hi Peter!

Peter Anthony Holder: Thanks for being on the program with us. Now this is a unique idea. Tell us how you came to write this book and your connection to the ASL world.

Kelly: Sure. So, how I came to write the book. Well from the time I was in elementary school, my younger sister and I used to write illustrated homemade comic books about a dog and a cat. And I’ve always wanted to be an author. I wrote the words; she did the illustrations. It was kind of like Garfield meets Snoopy and they were really, really bad. But I had to go into a field that actually made money when I graduated from college. And so I’ve been an American sign language interpreter now for over 30 years. I’ve met lots of Deaf people, done lots of interesting things as an interpreter, and Deaf culture has really become a part of who I am inside. But at the same time, I always had a dream of becoming an author someday. And so after years of writing and hard work, last year my dream came true when I published two mystery novels and this book, Never Mind, featuring Duke the Deaf dog. It’s called Never Mind because everyone in Duke’s family can hear, except him. And sometimes people tell him Never Mind which he does not like.

Peter Anthony Holder: Now let’s go back a little bit. What was your first indoctrination into the world of ASL? What made you want to become an interpreter in the first place?

Kelly: When I was in high school, I volunteered at a camp that had mostly Deaf kids in it and I didn’t know anything except how to spell my name. I became friends with them over a summer and started learning sign language and just kind of fell into the world and wanted to keep learning. I took ASL classes in high school and in college, and at a certain point the Deaf friends and mentors encouraged me to become an interpreter. In college, I had majored in English thinking I was going to rock the writing world. But those Deaf people really kind of pulled me into their world and asked me to interpret and I’ve been doing it, like I said, for a very long time. I was able to work part-time while I raised my family and it was, it’s the best job I can ever imagine. It’s more than I would have ever thought it would be.

Peter Anthony Holder: So getting back to your book, Never Mind, you decided to incorporate what you’ve learned as an ASL interpreter into your book. How did that whole thought process come about?

Kelly: Once I decided to write a children’s book that was like fulfilling my dream. I wanted to make sure that deaf children could also dream big. More than 90% of children who are born deaf or hard of hearing, have parents that can hear. And I’ve done a lot of research and there’s just very, very few books for young children that have deaf or hard of hearing characters in the books. I wanted to write a book that deaf children could feel connected to, because I think every child can love reading if they find a story that they enjoy. The Duke books are from the perspective about what it’s like growing up with a hearing difference. And I just knew right away when I decided to write the book what I was going to write about because I had worked with this woman named Chris Grassmeyer. I heard her tell a story over and over about her experience as being a mom with a deaf son. I asked her permission to tell the world about her house rule. And that was the seed of Never Mind.

So the books don’t stop with just a nice story about teaching children and adults that everyone wants to be included in conversations. Another thing that a lot of deaf and hard of hearing children are missing while they grow up is seeing deaf adults who have exciting jobs and are living their dreams.

Well, I know lots of deaf people and I asked a couple of them to help me make the books. One of my friends is a rock concert photographer, so he goes to heavy metal concerts and captures the artists in these really, really cool artistic photos. He even has an online concert magazine. So he took the photos for the book. And then another friend of mine is an American Sign Language instructor at the University of Nebraska, she’s traveled the world, and she’s a leader in the Deaf community. I wanted to incorporate this whole community of people that I’ve been friends with for quite a while and make them part of the book. Now other people can understand what it’s like to grow up deaf, but also deaf children can see, “Hey, there’s a lot of really cool deaf adults out there.” There’s really nothing that you can’t do as deaf child when you grow up. And I want them to be able to meet these people through the book.

Peter Anthony Holder: Well, when you created the book, what made you decide to make it a deaf dog as opposed to a deaf little boy or a little girl?

Kelly: I think my sister had a hand in that because she’s actually the illustrator and I guess there must’ve been some part of our history together back when we were little. Those dogs that she used to draw. And when I brought the idea to her, she was the one who really, she has a lot of experience with dogs and she’s just really, really good at capturing the different expressions, the different personalities of the different breeds and stuff. So she kind of had a hand in and making that character Duke come alive. A lot of what people love about the book is how each dog’s personality just kind of shines right through the illustrations.

Peter Anthony Holder: It must be very gratifying to have a passionate, fun thing to do as a child with your sister that you can still do as an adult. Working with your sister this way as an adult must be very, very gratifying for the two of you.

Kelly: It is! It’s funny. We just kind of went our separate ways with our careers. She’s a very talented muralist and she’s done a lot of commissions for businesses and private homes in the Omaha, Nebraska area. She’s been working at her job doing that for quite a while, but I have only just recently become an author. So when we could put the two things together, I just kind of, it was so satisfying. Like our parents, you know, used to tease us when we were little, and I don’t know if they really teased us, but they’d say, “Oh, you’re going to be an artist and you’re going to be a writer.” I think my mom and my dad are very, very proud to see that all these years later what they thought, what they saw as a spark when we were little is actually coming true.

Peter Anthony Holder: Now, you I understand have two dogs. Is that correct?

Kelly: I do, yes! We have–Sorry, go ahead.

Peter Anthony Holder: Does Duke look like either one of your dogs?

Kelly: Okay, this is kind of funny. I do have a dog whose name is Duke. He’s a German wire hair pointer. He looks nothing like Duke, the character. I really was hesitant about giving the dog the name of our dog, because he’s a fictional character. But there’s something about “Duke, the deaf dog” that just kind of rolls off your tongue. So we just decided to keep it. But no, my dog doesn’t really look like that.

My sister actually did a lot of research about the different dog breeds and I’m trying to think. I think this dog is an English setter. She’s probably gonna tell me I’m wrong. But there’s very many of those dogs are actually deaf in real life. Like that breed of dog has a high percentage of deafness. A lot of dogs that have two different color eyes or have blue eyes tend to be deaf. It’s a genetic thing with the breed. She really authentically chose that as the breed to make Duke in the book.

Peter Anthony Holder: Wow. Now I understand that there is some other ASL material included. What can people who are not deaf, what can they learn about ASL through this book?

Kelly: Right. That’s the super cool thing about this book. Everyone who buys the book gets access to videos that are on my website. In the book itself, you can see little photos of Amy doing the 10 signs in the book. Then on my website there’s videos of her demonstrating how to do the signs on video because a book is a flat surface and it’s kind of hard to tell which way your hands are supposed to move. On the videos, you can see how she makes the 10 signs. Amy also explains some American Sign Language ideas and the linguistics of it. And she also signs the entire story from start to finish. Children and some classrooms that I’ve worked with have pulled up the videos and watched them as many times as they like to learn how to sign the story and how to do the signs that are in the book.

I want to expose a whole generation of kids to how it feels to grow up to be deaf. Maybe it will spark their interest in learning ASL to communicate with their classmates or even future coworkers. Because I don’t really want anybody to be left out.

Peter Anthony Holder: Excellent. Now what is the age that your prime reading audiences for this book?

Kelly: I think this is about age three to age seven, eight or nine. Second grade, that range. From preschool where you’re with your parent reading together and then all the way up to about second grade.

Peter Anthony Holder: So you get them very young. Do you have any anticipation of doing either a follow up book for that particular age group or books for groups of children to grow up with your book?

Kelly: I have so many plans and so little time! Yes, we are already working on the next book. It’s going to be coming out later this year. The name is Farts Make Noise. It’s about when Duke discovers things that he didn’t know made noise can actually be heard by hearing people and that some of those noises are not polite. On one level it’s teaching a social skill, and then on a more adult level it’s recognizing that not everyone learns things the same way. I have ideas for probably six or seven more books in this age group. If they’re as popular as I think they’ll be, I would definitely like to do more. Move up to chapter books or older kid things.

Peter Anthony Holder: Well, congratulations. The first book, the new book is out. It’s Never Mind. Kelly, I thank you very, very much for taking the time to be on the program with us.

Kelly: Thank you so much for having me.

Peter Anthony Holder: Kelly Brakenhoff, author of Never Mind. You can go to my website: thestuphfile.com. Check out the show number for this program, which is show #0522 and you’ll find links to Kelly’s site plus links to either amazon.com or amazon.ca where you can order her book directly.

You’ve just heard an exclusive excerpt from The Stuph File program with Peter Anthony Holder. To hear any or all of the full hour- long shows visit thestuphfile.com Stuph is spelled S, T. U. P. H. that’s thestuphfile.com. A presentation of Flying Fish Communications. [This transcript has been lightly edited for filler words, repetitions, and clarity.]

If you enjoyed Peter’s podcast, you can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts and follow him on Twitter for more details. Never Mind can be ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and anywhere you order books. The Bookworm bookstore in Omaha, Nebraska has autographed copies available or you can order from their website.