About Thurber and Tom

Tom with Thurber

This was the day Tom drove to Punxsutawney, PA, to bring an 8-week-old Thurber home to Pittsburgh — one of the most wonderful days in the middle-aged fellow’s life! 

A Middle-Aged Man and HIs Lovable Labrador!

Tom Purcell is a long-time syndicated humor columnist and author. His columns appear in more than 400 newspapers, and he’s been writing one column a week for the past 30 years!

Tom had a wonderful dog, Jingles, as he and his sisters were growing up in the 70s. Always a dog lover, it’s amazing he waited until his 59th year to bring another pup into his home, Thurber the Yellow Lab! 

(Why the name “Thurber?” Tom explains why in this blog post.)

It All Began During Covid

Thurber and Tom’s story originated during the Covid pandemic when Tom’s hope of bringing a rescue into his home was complicated by a high demand for such dogs. He was looking high and low for more than two months.

Luckily, one Saturday morning he saw a post on Craigslist advertising a litter of Lab puppies. Just 9 days old, four the the nine pups in the litter were still available in Punxsutawney, PA, about 90 minutes north of Tom’s home in Pittsburgh.

He drove north early the next morning where he quickly chose the quietest, most laid-back pup in the litter (boy, would that change!)

Be Sure to Follow Tom and Thurber’s Posts & Funny Videos! 

Tom is delighted to share his story — and the many things he has learned the hard way about rearing an energetic Lab — in this blog, as well as fun and funny videos he and Thurber are producing across popular social-media channels, including (and be sure to “follow,” “subscribe” and “like”) these sites:

Facebook.com/ThurbersTail
Instagram.com/ThurbersTail

YouTube.com/@ThurbersTail

Visit us on a regular basis for fun and funny blog posts and video updates.

Check Out Tom’s Books

Also see Tom’s humor and mystery books, available at Amazon.com.

And Contact Us with Questions and Comments!

Contact Thurber and Tom at Tom@TomPurcell.com. 

Thank you for visiting!