Hobo is one of the eleven cats who lives with Brenda Jarvis, the chief cat lady of Dixfield, Maine.Hobo is one of the eleven cats who lives with Brenda Jarvis, the chief cat lady of Dixfield, Maine.More than 20 years ago, something unusual happened in the small town of Dixfield, Maine. A lady named Barbara Thorpe had left almost all of her money—$200,000—to benefit the cats of her hometown. When Barbara died in 2002, those cats suddenly got very, very rich.
Brenda Jarvis feeds three of her eleven cats. She's downsizing—at the height of her cat lady life, she was taking care of dozens and dozens of the town's strays.Brenda Jarvis feeds three of her eleven cats. She's downsizing—at the height of her cat lady life, she was taking care of dozens and dozens of the town's strays.Barbara's gift set off a sprawling legal battle that drew in a crew of crusading cat ladies, and eventually, the town of Dixfield itself.
In this episode, host Jeff Guo travels to Maine to track down the money. To figure out how Barbara's plans went awry. And to understand something about this strange form of economic immortality called a charitable trust. This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Dave Blanchard. It was engineered by Josh Newell. Sally Helm edited the show and Sierra Juarez checked the facts. Jess Jiang is Planet Money's acting Executive Producer.Willa Rubin/NPRHost Jeff Guo had to interview many, many cats for this story ... all in the name of journalism!
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Probs wasted on gambling and catnip
$200k isn't 'a fortune'. Maybe it was in 1823, not in 2023. It's not in any way mysterious that it seems to have vanished over the course of 20 years.
Many cats were interviewed
this title sounds like the plot of this movie but with the old lady dying.
My cat has always been notoriously bad at finance. Glad to see these guys up in Maine watching their bottom line.
Blew it all on catnip, right?
'And that's when the trouble began' is a great second sentence to any whimsical headline.
The road to hell etc...
planetmoney Can you do a show about people who, like this woman, have no heirs or beneficiaries to leave their inheritance to? I’m not rich, but I don’t know what will happen to the little of that. I do have when I’m gone. I don’t have a will because I have nowhere to put it.
If it paid for a capture, spay/neuter, & release program, & some cold weather shelters, that would be enough.
This is a really well done story all humor aside.
200k is not rich, let’s be honest. It’s barely enough to live in for 4 years in some areas.
So before you set up a charitable trust you need to have a vetted administrator who is a person with legal fiduciary responsibilities.
I want to give these cats a proper shelter! screw the trust drama.
Further proof that generational wealth is an issue.
They blew their inheritance on cat toys.
*sigh* another group of cats wasting their inherited wealth on drugs, feathers on sticks, and cardboard box factories... When will the cycle end?
Is there a transcript of this anywhere?
Previously unreleased footage of the cat who went missing the day all of that money disappeared.
Wild, catnip infused orgies