Celebrity Supporter, Honorary National Board Member
Dean Koontz is one of the world’s biggest selling authors, with 14 #1 New York Times hardcover bestselling novels and 16 novels that have held the #1 position in paperback. His books have been published in 38 languages, and he has sold over 450 million copies to date. Dean and his wife Gerda are long-time supporters of Canine Companions for Independence, which Dean discovered in the early 1990s while researching a service dog character for his book, Midnight.
Dean and Gerda Koontz adopted Canine Companions release dog Trixie, a Golden Retriever who co-authored two books with Dean prior to her passing. Trixie’s grandniece, Anna, has taken over Trixie’s role as Koontz’ canine author. Both Trixie and Anna are notorious for “stealing” the Koontz checkbook and writing donations upwards of $1 million to benefit Canine Companions for Independence.
Both Dean and Gerda Koontz hold honorary membership on the Canine Companions National Board of Directors. In 1996, Canine Companions’ Southwest Training Center was renamed The Dean, Gerda and Trixie Koontz Campus, in honor of the contribution and dedication of the Koontz family.
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