It's a Tear-jerker, But A Great Story

Episcopal priest takes dying dog on road trip for ‘Last Howlelujah Tour’ through Southwest

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Bill Miller is taking a close friend to Las Vegas on vacation, but this trip is about the bark, not the bet.

Miller’s traveling companion is his 12-year-old dog Wili, who is dying of cancer, and Vegas is only the final stop on a six-state road trip that the Episcopal priest from Louisiana is calling the “Last Howlelujah Tour.”

“It’s been extraordinary,” Miller said July 6 when reached by phone in Corsicana, Texas, south of Dallas. “The best parts of the trip have been really what we set out to accomplish, just to spend time together. We’ve just had a ball being together.”

In addition to spending precious time with Wili, the other goals of the tour are to remind people of the spiritual importance of close relationships – whether with family, friends or “man’s best friend” – and to promote and raise money for animal welfare organizations.

The stop in Corsicana was about a week into the two-week tour, and a fundraiser there July 5 raised $1,600 for the Humane Society of Navarro County. Miller has lined up about two dozen similar events in 18 cities on his route. Miller also is the author of two books, which he sells during his visits to churches, breweries and bookstores, and part of the proceeds of those sales are added to the fundraisers.

“We have met some incredibly gracious and loving people along the way. They have shown [Wili] great hospitality,” Miller said.

Miller, a 58-year-old Texas native, has served as a priest about 25 years. He was living in Austin when he got his first dog, an Airedale named Sam, in 1993. The dog’s story of surviving a house fire became the foundation for Miller’s 2005 book, “The Gospel According to Sam.” (Miller’s other book is “The Beer Drinker’s Guide to God.”)

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