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Geri Dendis
Local Artist Geri Dendis
was quick to see the opportunities of adding to her original paintings the lighthouses of the Gulf Coast. The first of her series were the Pass Christian and the Cat Island lighthouses. With these, she was very supportive in offering some of her prints to the Tricentennial Committee for fundraising in addition to presenting her original painting of the Pass lighthouse to the Committee --- this painting was later presented to the Pass Christian Historical Society and is on display there.
Big Boy comes to Town
Big Boy the Cat was reported as alive and well at Pass Christian's 2002 Jazz Festival. At least in the eyes of Artist/Author Geri Dendis.
Big Boy's story was first told by the Sun Herald newspaper in January 2001as describing the cat living in an oak tree at the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor as a result of Hurricane Georges having blown him from his Bait Shop rooftop home. Soon afterward, he became a celebrity due to a national story about his being catnapped that brought about a public outcry.
Many rumors of his whereabouts followed, but no definitive sighting. Longtime Pass Christian Artist Geri Dendis, known for her Ghosts of the Coast series of Lighthouses, wrote an illustrated book and story about Big Boy which she called the "Harrowing tale of the Catnapping of Big Boy."
Geri created a special painting of Big Boy for the 2002 Jazz in the Pass festival which was used for a fundraising raffle.