Saying that Alabama-native Neal Wooten grew up dirt-poor might be unfair to dirt.
Wooten, a 59-year-old Ft. Payne, Alabama, resident, lives in an old classroom building near Interstate-59 that was formerly used for the anti-poverty program Head Start, something Wooten didn’t have when he was a child growing up on Sand Mountain.
Wooten is from Blake, a tiny DeKalb County community. He clawed his way out of mountain poverty by studying math at Auburn University. He comes from a family made infamous by a shotgun murder committed by his now-deceased grandfather, “who killed his son-in-law over a dispute about potatoes,” Wooten explains.
When he was a child, Wooten had a pit bull dog named Whitey that initiated his love of animals — especially the neediest ones. Now, he takes care of four stray dogs — Betty, Benny, Baby Girl and Baxter — who have become his kayaking companions.
His life’s story sounds like a movie, and someday, it may be — his well-reviewed, semi-autobiographical book, “With the Devil’s Help,” was published by Simon & Schuster and is under consideration by a producer in Los Angeles for a 10-part miniseries, he says.
“It’s my first nonfiction book, and it’s about growing up on Sand Mountain,” Wooten says, noting that it delves into the murder — and his grandfather’s subsequent escape from state prison — which placed a shadow over his family for generations.
“He was never caught,” Wooten explains. “He led the rest of his life on the lamb.”
Wooten has, by turns, been a math teacher, a stand-up comic, a documentary maker and the creator of a successful Spanish-language cartoon called “Pancho el Pitbull.” He has authored 29 books, including several science fiction titles.
After living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a decade, he moved back to North Alabama in about 2016 and has settled into a slower lane as a writer, fitness-class teacher and dog parent.
His roommates are four former stray dogs that Wooten has adopted and drafted into his kayak navy. He has more than a dozen kayaks that he uses to row on nearby reservoir lakes. A friend on Facebook therefore labeled his pooches the “Reservoir Dogs,” after the Quentin Tarantino film by the same name.
Wooten has a soft spot for strays — really, any animal in need.
“I’ve raised possums and rabbits and snakes,” he says. “Whatever needs help.”
“When I moved back from Milwaukee, one thing that broke my heart was how many strays there are in the South,” Wooten says. “I wound up taking in four. They ride with me. If I go to book signings, they go with me. They stay in hotels.”
Each of the four dogs has a distinct personality, although they all melt into a dog pile on Wooten’s bed at night.
Betty is a brown, mixed-breed dog with a stoic personality. Benny is a Jack Russell terrier who was found roaming free behind the local Tractor Supply store. Baby Girl is a lethargic pit bull who was so emaciated when she showed up on a friend’s front porch that people thought she was dead. And Baxter was a puppy dumped at Wooten’s mother’s house and has turned into a hyper adult dog.
Two years ago, Wooten took up kayaking on nearby North Alabama lakes and soon discovered that his dogs loved to go, too. Typically, he takes his dogs to the water one at a time, and all have become enthusiastic passengers on his brightly colored kayaks.
“I have bad knees from football. I can’t do anything that’s too physical,” he says. “I can’t run or bike. [Kayaking] is a way to get [in] good cardio without having to hurt my knees.”
Last year, Wooten went paddling in his kayaks for over 100 days in a row. He was shooting for a 365-day streak but had to cut it short because of a toe injury.
One of the joys in his life is watching his reservoir dogs get excited. They seem to know instinctively when it’s their turn to go to the lake, he says, and they always wear life jackets in case they fall (or jump) in.
“Most strays have been treated poorly,” Wooten says. “It takes them a while to get to that level of trust. I try to advocate to people that strays are worth the time. It takes them a while to get them to break out of their shells, but then their personalities shine through.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
