Cary grew up in the world of breeding and showing dogs on the East Coast. Family vacations and weekend trips nearly always revolved around showing Labrador Retrievers at dog shows in the New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. At age eight, Cary began showing dogs and, as a preteen, exhibited her first dog Thumper to his conformation championship. Her mother Evie trained and showed most of the family’s other Walden Labradors while her dad Kurt gathered fodder to write his first book, Love on a Leash, a spoof on the dog fancy. A few years later, Cary turned to competing in obedience with a Thumper daughter that had been partially blinded by static electricity.
Between her college freshman and sophomore years, Cary held down two part-time jobs: dog groomer by day, and teletypist and occasional reporter by night. She definitely preferred her work at the local news bureau for the Hartford Courant after a grouchy terrier bit her groomer boss. Following college graduation, Cary reported for The Hartford Times and then the Hartford Courant, landing in the small city of New Britain where controversies raged. That’s when she decided law school would enhance her investigative reporter skills.
So Cary headed to Colorado to attend the University of Denver law school and never looked back. She found her second career calling as a deputy district attorney and used her interviewing skills to prepare cases for trials. At times, her Labrador Whiskey, a Thumper great grandson, accompanied her to the office on weekends during final trial preparations.
Years later, Cary’s dogs also sometimes assisted her as she worked as an assistant county attorney. Labradors Brew and Taz calmed nervous clients during meetings and brought cheer during visits with other county employees. Brew also played a role in a video scripted and used by Cary to teach civil liability issues to sheriff detention deputies.
Cary has authored articles for the Chief’s Counsel column of The Police Chief magazine, an International Association of Chiefs of Police publication. She’s also has written an article about AKC kennel inspections for Dog World magazine as well as a creative nonfiction book about a dog breeder.
She is a member of the Arizona Authors Association; the Chaffee County Writers Exchange; the Colorado Bar Association; the International Chiefs of Police Association and its Legal Officers Section; the Labrador Retriever Club, Inc.; the Labrador Retriever Club of Greater Denver; the Denver Foothills Tracking Association and the Bark Valley Dog Club.
Cary lives with her husband Dave Olmstead and their spoiled Labradors Betty and Ranger in the central Colorado mountains. She writes when she’s not hiking, swimming or taking mandatory daily walks with both dogs. Ranger also squeezes in time to train her.