He used to veto bills; now the words "veto" and "bill" mean something different for former Gov. Nathan Deal, and he's hoping they can for kids, too.
The 82nd governor of Georgia has released his first children's book, all from the perspective of his real cats named Veto and Bill.
In "Veto, The Governor's Cat," the pets share their experience moving from being kittens on a farm, to residents of the governor's mansion in Atlanta and then to Deal's home in Habersham County, where they spend time in the forest on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.
Along the way, they meet human and furry friends, some of whom they have to leave behind and some they have just met. It's a story that Deal hopes can help the kids who read it as they go through similar experiences, from moving and dealing with loss to making new friends and finding courage.
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"I want them to understand that Vito, as he moved from a farm where he was a kitten to a governor's mansion in the city of Atlanta, a big transition from the one to the other, and then when he left there and came to my home up in Habersham County on the banks of the Chattooga River."
"For children, moving is a traumatic experience sometimes," Deal told Scripps News. "But I think the overriding themes are, first of all, don't be afraid. Fear is one of the things that I think keeps so many children from realizing their potential."
In his two terms as Georgia's governor from 2011 through 2019, Deal often worked to improve literacy rates among the state's children, which was something his wife Sandra took an interest in, too.
As Georgia's first lady and a former public school teacher, Sandra read to children in more than 1,000 classrooms, touching every county and every school system. After the Deals left office, the former governor said his wife was still getting requests to come read in schools and libraries.
"So she told me, 'I've read all the books I have. I'd like for you to write me one,'" Deal told Scripps News. "Well, you know, us husbands, we'll promise our wife we'll do anything if we don't have a deadline."
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Deal said he hadn't followed through on the request until Sandra was diagnosed with brain cancer. He then got to work and was able to read the book's original draft to his wife, who "liked it and gave me the thumbs up" to publish it, Deal said.
Sandra died in August 2002 from cancer, but the book remained in much of its original form until publishers asked him to use his imagination to dive deeper into one part of the story.
To learn that story as well as hear Deal introduce his characters — in various accents, we might add — and his thoughts on today's political climate, watch the full interview above.
