STEPHEN M. CROWN, our friend and co-worker at DOG NEWS, has passed away from the cancer he was valiantly fighting for the past several months. STEVE was with us from the first issue of DOG NEWS. He was a great asset to us and he will never be replaced in our hearts and minds. In addition to all of us, he leaves a loving family, his wife MARIS, STEVE’S two sons EVAN and ANDREW & MICHELLE and their daughter HOLLY, MARIS’ son KEVIN & PHYLLIS BRAND and their children ZACHARY & COLE and daughter ILENE & KEITH CHOUINARD and their children DYLAN & KYLE. The American Kennel Club and BONHAMS are hosting a Barkfast at Bonhams Charity Brunch to celebrate your canine companion and the Bonham’s sale of dog art. All proceeds will benefit the new American Kennel Club’s Humane Fund, Inc. Admission is $50. It will take place on Sunday, February 10th between 10 A.M. to 12 P.M. at 595 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor entrance of 57th Street, New York. It was a special birthday dinner in Charleston, South Carolina for the aging (gracefully, I might add) JEAN HETHERINGTON. Helping her celebrate were MARIPI WOOLDRIDGE, JENNIFER STEVENS, DENNIS MCCOY, RANDY GARREN, JACKIE BEAUDOIN and KAY & RALPH TRIPP. Handler JANE MYERS was riding fellow handler MARCELO VERAS’ horse when she fell and broke her ankle. In a knee high cast for the next month, JANE will be recuperating while poor GREG works double time. The upcoming March CRUFTS DOG SHOW has topped last year’s entry. The show has an entry of 22,964 dogs in competition, making it by far the world’s largest dog show. There are a record number of foreign dogs entered totaling 1,177. If you have never attended, it is quite remarkable and should be seen at least one time. GARETH MORGAN-JONES and MICHAEL CANALIZO judged in Bogotá, Colombia. Breeder, judge, delegate, former writer for DOG NEWS and the first female member of the board of directors of the American Kennel Club, JACKLYN HUNGERLAND, has passed away. JACKIE had quite a full and rewarding life, what with her private life and her life in pure bred dogs. Several top winners came from her breeding and her love of Poodles was well known. All of us at DOG NEWS send our deepest sympathies to her family, who have requested those wishing to make a donation in JACKIE’S memory to THE DOG FANCIER’S FUND, P.O. Box 2572, Castro Valley, California 94546 and/or the FELLOW EARTHLINGS WILDLIFE CENTER, P.O. Box 1319, Morongo Valley, California 92256. DAVID JOHNSON, well known terrier handler and breeder of Airedales, passed away on January 24th from cancer. Our deepest sympathies to his daughter MISSY JOHNSON, who has requested that those wishing make a contribution to TAKE THE LEAD in DAVE’S memory. All of us at DOG NEWS were saddened to hear of the sudden passing of ROBERT GREITZER. He passed away from a heart attack. Well known and successful breeder and exhibitor of top winning Bearded Collies, he went onto judge the herding group. Our deepest sympathies to his family. The one thing you can always say about New York, is it’s a city that gives you choices…Wednesday, February 13th, following the Garden, there are two luncheons taking place at which the Westminster best in show judge J.D. JONES is scheduled to appear. The first will be hosted by the METROPOLITAN DOG CLUB at Cipriani Dolci, Grand Central Terminal, West Balcony, New York telephone 212.973.0999 from 10:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Price per person is members $100, non-members $125. For reservations rsvp by Tuesday, February 12th at events@metropolitiandogclub.com. The other luncheon is hosted by the DOG FANCIERS CLUB and will be held at Sardi’s Restaurant, 234 West 44th Street, New York. Prices are per person, members $75 and non-members $85. Hard to believe it was twenty-five years ago that the Mid-West Basset Boy BRYAN MARTIN swept that lanky Long Islander NANCY MARTIN down the aisle. Twenty-five years of wedded bliss and they never had a fight….congratulations. Also celebrating a wedding anniversary is CONNIE & KEN WILLIAMS. Birthdaying…the aforementioned JANE ALSTON MYERS and MARCELO VERAS. Also celebrating is JOY QUALLENBERG, LORI KATUH, R.C. CARUSI, BRYAN BOYES, JOAN FISHER, JEAN FANCY, JOHN KRUKAR, SUSAN CARR, AMBER LAMBIE, SIOUX FORSYTH, KENNY WHITE and KRISTEN KORBOSKI.