Stubbs | |
---|---|
Honorary Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska | |
In office July 18, 1997 – July 21, 2017 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Talkeetna, Alaska, U.S. | April 12, 1997
Died | July 21, 2017 Talkeetna, Alaska, U.S. | (aged 20)
Stubbs (April 12, 1997 – July 21, 2017)[1] was a cat who was the honorary mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, from July 18, 1997, until his death in 2017.[2]
Stubbs was described as a tourist attraction,[3] having been flooded with cards and letters, and drawing 30 to 40 tourists each day (most of whom were en route to other Alaska destinations, such as Denali)[4] who hoped to meet "the mayor". His position was honorary, as the town is only a historic district.[5]
Every afternoon, Stubbs went to a nearby restaurant and drank water mixed with catnip out of a wine [6][7] or margarita glass.[8]
Stubbs died in 2017 at the age of 20.[9]
cat named Stubbs has been the mayor of Talkeetna for nearly all of his life -- no joke. It's been that way for 2 decades in the small tourist town that boasts nearly 900 residents. The part-manx was named honorary mayor shortly after his birth, and now locals all know the cat as "Mayor Stubbs."
As the story goes, about 15 years ago, some residents of Talkeetna were unhappy with the candidates who were running for mayor, so as a joke, they encouraged others to elect Stubbs the cat as a write-in candidate, and he actually won.
He has been a popular tourist attraction ever since in the town of 900 people. 'He was just in the Alaska Magazine, and he's been featured in a few different things,' said Lauri Stec, who works at Nagley's General Store in Talkeetna, where Stubbs hangs out most of the time.
Stec manages Stubbs's main haunt, Nagley's General Store, and says the cat has been a good leader when it comes to local small businesses. "He doesn't raise our taxes - we have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business", she told CNN. "He's honest". Yet Stubbs has exhibited some diva behavior, such as drinking water out of a wine glass laden with catnip every afternoon.