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The world's most-kissed pig made an appearance in Lehi on Saturday, to the delight of dozens of children -- and librarians.
At 14 years old, Daisy Minor has accomplished a lot for a pig. She's been on national television many times, been featured in dozens of newspapers and is on her third national tour of libraries, helping kids get excited about reading.
She even sports a huge collection of library cards, made out in her name, from libraries across the country.
And besides being the world's most-kissed pig, she is the only pig to have a personal letter from First Lady Laura Bush and the only pig ever invited to the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., and surely the only pig traveling the nation in her own special van.
"I think the life of a pig is a pretty good one," said Natalie Collins of Lehi, with a smile. Collins brought her children -- Paige, Rhett and Dodge, ages 6, 3 and 2 -- to the Lehi library on Saturday to meet the pig.
Daisy is a pot-bellied pig owned by Paul Minor of Bristol, Conn., who calls himself Farmer Minor. And he is a real farmer, raising apples and pumpkins on a farm that has been in the family since 1888.
He is also a storyteller and an advocate of getting kids away from the television and to the library.
Children simply must grow up to become proficient readers because their future success depends on it, he said in an interview after his 2 p.m. show at the Lehi library. He and Daisy gave three hour-long performances on Saturday and were paid $250 for each show. Well over 100 children attended.
"Now you get to see the world's most famous pig," said Farmer Minor, wearing overalls and a baseball hat emblazoned with his name, to the children seated in a semi-circle in front of him. "Can you believe a pig loves books?"
Daisy did a walk-about to show herself off to the children, and then sat in a double-wide stroller as Farmer Minor told her story to the children. It seems that after Mr. and Mrs. Minor's children left home, Mrs. Minor wanted to bring some new life and noise to the house. She choose Daisy because she was the runt of the litter.
And yes, said Farmer Minor, the couple really have been reading her books since she came to live with them.
"Whether she really likes books or just likes the sound of our voice, it really works," he said.
For the past 14 years, the pig has slept each night in bed with the couple -- that is, when she is not touring the country. Farmer Minor showed poster-sized photos of the pig in bed with him, and another of the pig in bed with him and the family cat, and finally the family's new puppy snuggled up against the pig, sound asleep. He even played a recording of Daisy snoring. The children and their parents ate it up.
Farmer Minor ended by reading the children a board book about a pig, and then all the children lined up to pet Daisy, give her kisses and have their photo taken with the world's most famous pig.
Lest anyone be shy in giving a pig a kiss, Farmer Minor fed her raisins from his lips to hers, kissed her himself and then made the librarians kiss the pig to show the kids how.
All the while, Daisy lazed pleasantly in her stroller, a pink bow on her belly.
Minor said he got into the touring pig business quite accidently. In addition to running the family farm, he worked for 30 years doing corporate public affairs for a telephone company.
After he and his wife got their pet pot-belly, they began offering her up to local schools for kiss-a-pig contests to encourage reading. A local librarian asked Minor to do a children's story time, telling the kids how he got the pig. The librarian was so impressed she arranged for Minor to give the same spiel in front of a statewide group of teachers and librarians.
In no time, the list of libraries wanting a visit from Daisy had grown so long that Minor took earlier retirement. He and Daisy travel up to nine months of the year. They started this year's tour on the East Coast, made their way to Texas and then Arizona before arriving in Utah and planned to leave this morning for gigs in Montana.
Mindi Redd of Lehi brought her daughter Jane, who is 4 years old.
"I was curious to check out the pig," she said with a laugh.
Redd she was a little disappointed that Daisy didn't actually read, a misconception that may have been perpetuated by a library flier reading "Pig out on reading! Come to the Lehi Public Library to see 'The world's most famous pig,' Daisy. With the help of Farmer Minor, Daisy will read stories."
Though the pig never lifted a hoof to even turn a page, Farmer Minor and the whole show did hold Jane's interest, and the event was a success, Redd said.
Mother and daughter went to check out books right after saying farewell to the porcine reading advocate. |
