Author F. John McLauglin was raised in England and went to school in Ireland, obtaining a medical degree from Trinity College, Dublin. The book is illustrated by Gordon D’Arcy, Ireland’s leading nature artist.
“Frank the Newport Fox,” by F. John McLaughlin, is a beautifully presented book written for young readers, but one that also captures the attention of adults.
The author, who lives on a 30- acre farm in central Massachusetts, has been traveling to Newport for over 50 years. He begins the book with the arrival of the French to Newport in 1780 to support Gen. George Washington in his quest to free America from England. On an unnamed vessel, besides the crew, there are eight foxes and eight vixens. The foxes are treated as the crew’s pets. Once in Newport, the foxes continue to be well-treated and keep vermin under control.
A page to the left of this story contains an illustration of an old colonial vessel with a soldier in uniform, presumably Rochambeau, and several foxes featured on different parts of the vessel. This is only one of many illustrations skillfully drawn by Gordon D’Arcy, a leading nature artist from Ireland.
When the French army leaves Newport en route to Yorktown, the foxes are freed and merge with the local population of foxes on Aquidneck Island. It is after this that the tales of Frank and his vixen, Terry, and their cubs begin.
Frank and Terry, named after the author’s parents, and the three cubs, Red, Rowan and Johnny, face many dangers. They lose two dens in Newport in one day. They meet other foxes and discuss how the coyotes are menacing the island.
Frank discloses a plan to chase the coyotes off the island through a combination of aerial attacks by eagles and osprey, blood-curdling cries of vixens, and pursuit by foxes. There is unanimous support for the plan, which is successfully executed without harming the coyotes.
The family of foxes then move on to fly fishing and hunting on different parts of the island. The cubs are delighted with their stash of fish and mice.
Thereafter, the family moves north to the “hills overlooking Portsmouth Abbey” and catches five rabbits. Their adventure involves successfully capturing a wild turkey.
Later in the book, the fox family builds a palatial den around Rough Point and goes on a ghost hunt near the polo fields on the feast of St. Kieran, which is March 5.
Dismayed with the persecution of innocent animals, Frank helps relocate skunks off Jamestown by finding them a “wonderful oak forest in Kingston.” The skunks have to promise never to return to Jamestown.
Cub Johnny becomes a “cosmopolitan fox” after a trip on a vessel as part of a Bermuda Race and finds the love of his life, vixen Raquel. He and Raquel return to Newport to start a family.
When Terry tells Frank she is expecting another litter of cubs, she notes it’s time for Red and Rowan to leave the den. A family discussion ensues. Red and Rowan delight in the prospect of being independent. Red chooses an area near St. George’s School to build a den and has his eye on “an adorable vixen.”
Rowan opts to live in
Jamestown and has
“no particular vixen in mind,” but just wants “to play the field.”
The circle of life culminates with the fox family living happily ever after not far from one another.
It was not surprising to learn that the author’s real-life farm is surrounded by foxes, coyotes, wild turkeys, beaver, otters, skunks and deer. He also sails and fishes. His actual surroundings and pursuits certainly inform this book. One senses the author’s appreciation for the environment and the importance of protecting all wildlife.
While primarily creative and fictional, “Frank the Newport Fox” is informative and amusing. Its only downside is that a proofreader missed some errors. But these do not take away from the overall enjoyment of the book.
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