Cindy Baucom Writes A New Kid’s Book About the Rescue Dog That Helped Husband Terry Baucom Make His Last Transition
written By Derek Halsey
This past December, the news of the death of the great Texas singer and songwriter Joe Ely reminded the world once again of the previously little-known disease called Lewy Body Dementia.
The bluegrass scene faced its Lewy Body Dementia moment when the news came out about two-and-a-half years ago that the great banjo player Terry Baucom had been diagnosed with it, and the shock came with the speed of the disease. In our tribute article about Terry that was published here in BU two years ago, we documented how his friends and fellow musicians began to notice a change in his demeanor. It was announced in August of 2023 that Terry Baucom would be retiring from the music business. By December 7, 2023, he would be gone.
There is a previously untold side to Terry Baucom’s story, however, and it involves a rescue dog that the Baucoms adopted that proved to not only be a magical addition to the family, but also a friend to Terry when he needed one the most.
There is an innate quality when it comes to the connection between human and their sentient pets that is truly special. That connection is often unconditional, intuitive, and even otherworldly at times, and that was the case with Terry and his furry buddy Solomon Simon Dog Man Jack.
Actually, the true name of Terry and Cindy Baucom’s dog is Solomon. Because of the nature of Lewy Body Dementia and what it does to the human brain, however, Solomon was called various names by Terry as the disease took his physical body down its inevitable path. And yet, Solomon did not mind the name changes as he stayed true to Terry, and that is why Cindy named her new kids’ book Solomon Simon Dog Man Jack, which features a surprisingly upbeat story filled with wonderful illustrations by Grace van’t Hof. Many will also recognize Grace van’t Hof as the banjo player for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers,
“I realized pretty soon after losing Terry that I needed to try to channel my grief into something positive instead of getting lost in a dark place,” said Cindy Baucom. “I thought I needed to focus my energy on something positive that could not only be therapeutic for me, but hopefully it would be something that would help others. Our dog Solomon is a rescue that we got from a shelter, and he was so loving and nurturing during Terry’s illness. It became important to Terry to have the comfort of his dog right at his side, always with him, providing that support. After Terry passed away, I was walking Solomon one day in downtown Elkin, North Carolina, where I live, and a few little rhyming lines began to come to me, so I got out my phone and got on the notes app and just typed in what I thought of, never really thinking that it would go anywhere.”
If you have dealt with a family member or friend that has been afflicted with dementia-related disease, you know that you have to keep your sense of humor intact, even if it is in the middle of a tragedy happening in real time. And that approach is how Baucom came up with the book’s title.
“As Terry’s disease progressed, he could not remember the name of our dog, so he kept changing it,” said Baucom. “Amazingly, it didn’t matter what name Solomon was called; he would go to him. That is why this story is told from the dog’s perspective, about how he got his many names and us. The title of the book goes in order of how Terry changed his name, going from Solomon to Simon, and there were more names to come, as I would soon discover. For instance, the name Jack came into play when Lou Reid was here visiting Terry one day. Solomon is a jumper, meaning he can jump from the floor up to my shoulder with no effort. And Lou said, ‘Terry, look at that dog jump. He must have some Jack Russell in him.’ Terry looked at Lou, and he said, ‘Jack would be a good name for him.’ It all comes back to the fact that it didn’t matter what Solomon was called; he went to Terry just from the sound of his voice. ‘He gave me a home,’ says Solomon in the book, ‘and I’m proud to be Solomon Simon, Dog Man Jack.’”
As for Solomon’s reaction to watching his friend Terry get worse as each day passed by, Cindy believes their pet knew what was happening and became even more loving, protective, and reactive in response.
“ My goodness, I have pictures of Terry and Solomon near the end that I won’t share, because it was just heartbreaking,” said Baucom. “I think Solomon did know what was happening. He had a special place on Terry’s hospital bed where he would lay with Terry’s arms at his side, right about the place where Terry’s hand would be resting. When he wasn’t on the bed, Solomon was sitting in the chair next to the bed. And, on that morning when Terry had died and after the funeral home came and took him away, Solomon stayed beside the empty hospital bed and sat in that chair for about an hour, just looking over that way.”
Terry and Cindy Baucom lived for many years in the beautiful old-school downtown area in Elkin, North Carolina.
“Terry passed on December 7th, close to Christmas time, and the funeral home is just across the street and three houses down from our house here in Elkin,” said Baucom. “Everybody had just left the house after being with me all day long, and, without really thinking much about it, just like I normally do, I put Solomon on his leash, and we began to walk down the street. I approached the funeral home with Terry inside of it and it was decorated so pretty for Christmas, with all of the lights in the windows and the wreaths on the doors. All of a sudden, I realized that he was in there and that I was out here on the street, and it just hit me. Then, Solomon dragged me across the street and kept pulling me towards the front door of the funeral home, and he began frantically sniffing under the door, going from one side to the other. The funeral home has rocking chairs on the front porch, so I sat down in one of the rockers until he settled down. Solomon had never done that before and has not done it since, but for that moment, he knew that Terry was in there, and it was further testament to their closeness.”
Fast forward a year and a half or so, and the motivation to finish and publish this new kid’s book increases. Baucom, of course, is one of the premier radio show hosts and festival emcees in all of the bluegrass genre. Growing up in rural and beautiful Ashe County, North Carolina, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Baucom began her musical career as a musician before focusing her energy on becoming a radio personality. She started out as a DJ on the Ashe County radio station WKSK. After four years, she moved on to become an on-air personality on radio station WKBC in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, for eight years and then she was a DJ for eight more years on WFMX based in Statesville. All of that experience led her to become the host of the syndicated Knee-Deep In Bluegrass radio show in 2003, which is currently broadcast on over 60 stations across the country.
Along the way, Cindy married Terry Baucom, who will go down in history as one of bluegrass music’s most influential musicians. He was honored with the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2023, and he also won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Award the same year.
Add the adventures of Solomon the rescue dog to the story, and eventually, Cindy Baucom’s kids’ book began to take shape. “As I would walk Solomon, I would think of new ideas about my book, and I would add them to my previous notes,” said Baucom. “Then, after probably six or eight weeks had gone by, I couldn’t sleep one night, and I decided to get up and try to be productive at about 3 a.m. in the morning. I got out a notebook and pen and started trying to see if I could assemble my previous notes in such a way that it would make sense as a children’s book. I not only wanted to talk about the relationship between our rescue dog and Terry during his illness, but hopefully to also help any young family member who might have a loved one who was dealing with some kind of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, helping them to realize that if their loved ones are acting differently or sounding differently, it’s the disease and not them.”
Soon, Baucom and Grace van’t Hof began to collaborate. “The illustrations were beautifully done by Grace”, said Baucom. “Being a banjo player and watching Terry over the years, Grace really captured his personality well, even down to his trademark Birkenstocks and wristwatch. When I told Grace I wanted a nice colorful presentation with the book, that’s exactly what was delivered! Before I thought of Grace, I started randomly contacting children’s book illustrators, but because this was a new venture for me, I just found those conversations with illustrators to be very impersonal because they didn’t know Terry. Then I thought of inviting Grace, who stays busy with Chris Jones and The Night Drivers, Chris Scruggs and others. I was hopeful the interest and availability would be there and luckily, it was! I couldn’t be happier about our collaboration on the illustration ideas and end result.”
The next step was to find a way to publish the book. “I would go online and sort of research things, looking at other children’s books just to get an idea of how others had published their work,” said Baucom. “But, since this was something that was totally brand new to me, I got a hold of the awesome music journalist Craig Havighurst. I first met Craig back in 2007 when we went through the IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass program together. I knew that he had published several books over the years, and I thought he might be a good resource for getting my book to the right people so I could get it published and printed properly. So, Craig provided links to a number of websites of companies that offered self-publishing with assistance. I went with Lulu Publishing, which is based just down the road in Durham County, North Carolina. It’s one of the largest online bookstores on the scene, and the quality of my new kid’s book is just outstanding. The turnaround time after the book is ordered is so quick, too. After everything was ready, I ordered a hundred books, and seven days later, a hundred books were at my doorstep, and they are just beautiful. And, whenever a customer now orders one of my books, they will get it in about a week as well.”
Ricky Skaggs, the Country Music Hall of Famer and Bluegrass Hall of Famer, who is a long-time friend to Terry and Cindy Baucom, wrote the introduction to this book. All of the proceeds of this wonderful project will go towards helping to bring awareness to the importance of animal adoption shelters, especially focusing on Country Music Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris’s Bonaparte’s Retreat Dog Rescue organization, and to organizations that do Lewy Body Dementia research.
Cindy Baucom’s book Solomon Simon Dog Man Jack can be purchased at www.lulu.com. More information on Baucom’s radio show can be found at kneedeepinbluegrass.com.
