The Other Kind of Lion Characters

A farm widow and mother of Reid and Curtis, later a neighbor and surrogate mother to Ludlow 'Cash' Pierce. She cares for Phoenix and Edsel, grieves Hal and Reid, and insists on feeling her grief without shortcuts. After a stroke she lives with Cash and builds a chosen family around him.

Arc: She moves from feeding a hungry neighbor boy to treating him as one of her own, then endures the losses of Hal, Reid, and Curtis, sells the farm, and survives a stroke. In Cash's care she regains speech and embraces a late-life family, ending with her last spoken word, 'Hal.'

• Cash — neighbor boy she feeds and nicknames, later the doctor who cares for her after her stroke
• Curtis — her younger son
• Reid — her older son
• Hal — her deceased husband
• Phoenix — her horse, formerly Hal's
• Edsel — her elderly dog
• Bernie Cain — her speech therapist and later friend
• Doris Steen — neighbor who first offers comfort and later accuses her
• Gloria — neighbor at her duplex
• Marie — her home nurse

Born Ludlow Pierce, nicknamed Cash as a boy; he is a hungry, bullied child whose older half-brother Jace tries to raise him. He becomes a doctor and searches for Shirley for fifteen years; he is grateful, guilt-prone, and determined to repay her care.

Arc: He moves from a boy who wants a nickname and a motherly figure to a physician who cares for Shirley after her stroke, marries Bernie Cain, adopts Annie, and has Mary. He learns to accept love and family and to keep going after loss.

• Shirley — the woman he calls Mrs. Shirley and says he loved more than his own mother; she helped him as a boy and he later cares for her
• Jace — his older half-brother
• Curtis — friend who gave him a ride and a nickname; later a brother figure
• Bernie Cain — his wife
• Mary — his daughter
• Annie — his adopted daughter
• Stu — his dog

Shirley's younger son, protective and hot-tempered, who gives Cash a ride and coins his nickname. He refuses the draft and moves to Canada, later becoming Hallie's father and Darcy's grandfather.

Arc: He goes from a boy helping and defending Cash to a draft resister in Canada, then a father who returns to support Shirley and Cash; he dies of cancer, his last word reported as 'Dad?'

• Shirley — his mother
• Reid — his older brother
• Cash — friend and later brother figure
• Hallie — his daughter
• Ellen — his wife
• Darcy — his granddaughter
• Mikey — boy he confronts after Mikey assaults Cash
• Richie Brookman — classmate he fights over an insult to Reid

Shirley's older son and Curtis's brother, who is drafted and goes to Vietnam rather than dodge, invoking his father's service. His letters home ask for cookies and report advanced training and overseas duty.

Arc: He leaves home for basic training and is later killed in the war, becoming a source of grief and conflict for Shirley and Curtis.

• Shirley — his mother
• Curtis — his younger brother
• Hal — his father

Cash's older half-brother, an eighteen-year-old Texaco attendant trying to raise Cash and keep him out of foster care. He is proud, struggling with rent, and later takes Cash to Pennsylvania for a Bethlehem Steel job.

Arc: He moves from a desperate young caretaker to a Bethlehem Steel worker and later a tire-store manager in Arizona; he buries his mother with Cash before Cash begins searching for Shirley.

• Cash — his younger half-brother
• Shirley — neighbor he asks for rent help

Shirley's deceased husband, killed in Vietnam at twenty-five; father of Reid and Curtis and former owner of Phoenix and the old truck. His memory shapes Shirley's grief and Curtis's and Reid's decisions.

Arc: He is absent but present through memory; Shirley's final spoken word is 'Hal.'

• Shirley — his widow
• Reid — his son
• Curtis — his son
• Phoenix — his horse

Shirley's speech-language pathologist, direct and encouraging, who insists Shirley speak rather than only write. She is unmarried and has stopped dating when she meets Cash.

Arc: She moves from therapist to Cash's wife and mother of Mary, and later adopts Annie; she keeps her own name and asks Shirley for advice.

• Shirley — her speech therapy client and later friend
• Cash — her husband
• Mary — her daughter
• Annie — her adopted daughter

Curtis and Ellen's daughter and Shirley's granddaughter, later Darcy's mother. She visits Shirley with Darcy and asks Shirley how to get through loss.

Arc: She appears as a young mother seeking family connection and comfort from Shirley about her father's death and the passage of time.

• Curtis — her father
• Ellen — her mother
• Shirley — her grandmother
• Darcy — her daughter

Curtis's wife, Hallie's mother, and Darcy's grandmother. She cares for Curtis through cancer and later avoids reminders of him.

Arc: She moves from worn-down caregiver to widow who avoids what reminds her of Curtis; after his death she calls Bernie to relay his last word.

• Curtis — her husband
• Hallie — her daughter
• Darcy — her granddaughter
• Shirley — her mother-in-law

Hallie's toddler daughter and Shirley's great-granddaughter; she shrinks back against Ellen's legs at their first meeting. She later arrives with Hallie when the family gathers near Shirley's final days.

Arc: She appears as a small child in the extended family that Shirley gathers around her late in life.

• Hallie — her mother
• Ellen — her grandmother
• Curtis — her grandfather
• Shirley — her great-grandmother

Cash and Bernie's daughter, Annie's sister, named Mary Shirley Pierce-Cain. She is a child at breakfast and later a girl who helps Shirley at the horse show and opens her window for Flora.

Arc: She grows from a small child corrected at breakfast into a helpful granddaughter; she forgets the ice chest at the show but stays to watch Annie and calls for help when Shirley faints.

• Cash — her father
• Bernie Cain — her mother
• Annie — her sister
• Shirley — her grandmother

Cash and Bernie's adopted daughter, a young horsewoman who rides Barry. She wants Shirley at her first show but is afraid to ask because of Shirley's health.

Arc: She moves from nervous about asking Shirley to competing in her first show, where she knocks a rail but finishes without further fault and takes second place.

• Cash — her father
• Bernie Cain — her mother
• Mary — her sister
• Shirley — her grandmother
• Barry — her horse

Shirley's neighbor on the town side, religious and opinionated, who first brings scotch and a pep talk after Reid leaves. Later she accuses Shirley of helping Curtis dodge the draft.

Arc: She moves from attempted comforter to hostile accuser, and Shirley never speaks to her again.

• Shirley — neighbor who first tries to comfort her and later accuses her
• Bradley — her son overseas

Hal's horse, an old bay who nickers at Cash and later colics; Shirley calls him 'Hal's horse.' The nicker is what first draws Shirley to Cash.

Arc: He survives a colic emergency with Dr. Wells; later his ashes and plaque remain on Shirley's old property, and his nicker to Cash is remembered as the start of their bond.

• Shirley — his caregiver after Hal's death
• Hal — his former owner
• Cash — he nickers at Cash as a boy
• Dr. Wells — the vet who treats his colic

Shirley's elderly black Labrador, who rarely gets up for anyone but follows Cash and seeks his attention. He dies quietly in his sleep at the foot of Shirley's bed.

Arc: He goes from Shirley's old dog to Cash's small companion; his death is reported in Cash's letter and mourned by both.

• Shirley — his owner
• Cash — follows him and seeks his attention
• Hal — brought him home as a puppy

Shirley's new next-door neighbor at the duplex, who welcomes her with wine and shares her philosophy that eighty percent of people are rubbish and one should enjoy the twenty percent. She later moves out after meeting a man and marrying.

Arc: She is a brief friend and confidante for Shirley after the move.

• Shirley — her new neighbor and friend

Shirley's home nurse at Cash's house, practical and encouraging, who manages her schedule and urges her to try speaking. She calls Dr. Cash with Curtis's number.

Arc: She supports Shirley's recovery from stroke.

• Shirley — her patient
• Cash — the doctor she works for

Shirley's large-animal vet for nearly twenty years, who treats Phoenix's colic by sedating him and pumping mineral oil into his stomach. He leaves without asking for payment.

Arc: He appears in an emergency and helps save Phoenix.

• Shirley — her large-animal vet
• Phoenix — the horse he treats

Shirley's newest neighbor, who wants to date her despite her refusals and stares oddly at her as she struggles uphill. He panics and runs back and forth after she collapses.

Arc: He is a comic nuisance who becomes the neighbor who witnesses her stroke.

• Shirley — her neighbor who wants to date her

Shirley's cat of eighteen years, buried by the creek with a eulogy praising him as a good listener and calm cat.

Arc: His death opens the chapter before Shirley's stroke.

• Shirley — his owner

Annie's Thoroughbred gelding, warmed up and jumped in the arena; he handles a chicken crossing his path and is hesitant near the big umbrella.

Arc: He carries Annie in her first show.

• Annie — her horse

A mare Cash brings to Shirley's window on a lead rope; she snuffles and nudges Shirley's hands, then withdraws and walks away. Shirley believes the mare wanted to check on her.

Arc: She visits Shirley near the end and is interpreted as knowing Shirley will be okay.

• Shirley — the mare likes her from their first meeting and visits her window
• Cash — he leads her to the window and later puts her back in the paddock

Cash's dog, brought to Shirley's guesthouse and later sitting close to Shirley and begging at breakfast. He leaves the table only after Shirley also tells him to go.

Arc: He becomes a small companion in the household.

• Cash — his dog
• Shirley — stays with her and begs from her at breakfast

A boy who assaults Cash before lunch, leaving him with a black eye, swollen lip, and ripped shirt. He later apologizes and says he will never do it again.

Arc: He goes from attacker to apologetic bully; Curtis confronts him.

• Cash — the boy he assaults, later apologized to
• Curtis — confronts him at school

Curtis's classmate who says Reid was stupid to go off and maybe get killed and that the war is a waste; Curtis fights him over it.

Arc: He appears as the taunter prompting Curtis's suspension.

• Curtis — classmate he fights
• Reid — he insults Reid's service

Shirley's neighbor who watches the confrontation with Doris Steen but refuses to take sides, saying not everybody has the same idea of what is right.

Arc: She declines to choose, and Shirley never talks to her again.

• Shirley — neighbor who asks her to take a side
• Doris Steen — neighbor whose side she declines to overtly take

The elderly couple who buy Shirley's house and property; Shirley leaves them a note asking that Phoenix's ashes and plaque remain undisturbed and that any message from Cash be forwarded.

Arc: They appear as buyers who hold Shirley's old home and her hope of hearing from Cash.

• Shirley — they buy her house and property

Shirley's neighbor at the duplex who talks to Curtis outside for several minutes while Shirley watches from inside.

Arc: She appears as a minor neighbor during Curtis's visit.

• Shirley — her neighbor
• Curtis — talks to him outside Shirley's duplex

Doris Steen's son, serving overseas. Doris invokes him when she offers Shirley a religious pep talk about God taking care of their sons.

Arc: He does not appear; his overseas service motivates Doris's attempted comfort.

• Doris Steen — her son overseas