
During the expansion of L.A.’s Ventura Freeway, the author unearths a scrapbook from a site that was once a pet cemetery. To his delight and amazement, its yellowing pages contain the rags to riches story of Terry, the cairn terrier who became a cultural icon playing Toto in The Wizard of Oz. I, Toto traces the Canine star’s tragic beginnings (she was abandoned because of housebreaking failures until trainer Carl Spitz took her in), her exhilarating film career (a dozen movies with start such as Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy, and of course, Judy Garland), her days as the top-billed star with the Hollywood Motion Picture Dog Review, and her happy retirement in southern California. Most important, Toto offers the inside scoop on the making of The Wizard of Oz. Lovingly illustrated, Toto’s scrapbook features more than 100 photographs and reproductions collected over a dog’s life, including film stills, press clippings, lobby cards, movie posters, and memorabilia, plus personal snapshots from Toto’s life at home. A must-read for fans of the classic movie and its equally classic canine star.