Man, dog subject of Haiti quake story

Book signings are nothing new in the Hamptons.

But paw signings? Now that's a different story.

Lily Nash Glynn, a silver dapple dachshund, greeted fans who turned out Saturday to hear passages from the children's book "Lily in the Sky with Kindness," about her mission to help earthquake victims in Haiti along with her owner, Jonathan Nash Glynn, of Sag Harbor.

Glynn, a private pilot, was flying his Cessna to Florida with Lily in January 2010 when he learned of the Haiti earthquake. He decided to keep going, to help get medical supplies into areas where larger planes couldn't go.

Since seeing the devastation and suffering in that country, Glynn, 60, started a nonprofit organization called "Wings Over Haiti." The group got nationwide attention when he started flying to Haiti every month to build a school for 42 students, with help from Melissa McMullen, a teacher from Port Jefferson, and Chad St. Louis, a teacher from upstate Middletown.

"I saw these kids had nothing, not even a toothbrush or a toy, and I started fundraising to have a school with books, supplies, and a meal," Glynn said.

The sustainable school, in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, is up and running but now Glynn is raising funds to buy more land to add a community center and medical clinic.

In March, he received a call from folk artist Jayne Lakhani in Hot Springs, Ark., who'd read media reports about his mission and wanted to write a book about the organization's effort from the dog's point of view.

"I heard about his co-pilot dachshund, and my friend who showed me the article has a dachshund, so I wanted to do something to help them," said Lakhani, 55, an artist and waitress.

Lakhani, who has published two other children's books, obtained photos from Glynn's website, www.wingsoverhaiti.org, and started illustrating and writing the book, as written from Lily's perspective.

"My Dad [Glynn] is a pilot and I'm his co-pilot," she wrote. "On one of our long trips to visit friends in Florida, we heard about the earthquake in Haiti. He patted me on the head and said, 'Lily, let's go see how we can help.' "

Throughout the soft-covered book are original paintings of Glynn and Lily in the cockpit of the plane and on Haiti with the people, building a school.

Lakhani's publisher, Wendy Jones, of "On the Porch, LLC," said they printed 1,000 copies and were hoping to move 10,000 books, through donations of $20 apiece, to reach Glynn's goal of $100,000.

On Saturday, at the Hampton Library, Lily sat on Glynn's lap as he read to about a dozen children and their parents. Sophie Griffin, 11, of Wainscott, said, "I like this book and the message that anyone can make a difference, and that one act of kindness can set off a chain reaction."