Author brings beloved characters to Logan Martin Lake
Story by Paul South
Photos by Bob Crisp
and submitted photos
A pair of precocious, real-life Goldendoodles are leaving their paw prints on the children’s literary landscape, thanks to Pell City High School engineering teacher Dr. Jeffrey R. Samoranski.
The loveable canine siblings born six months apart, Lacey Jo and Savannah, are the stars of books targeting young readers ages 3 to 8. With six titles in print, the sisters are bringing tail-wagging joy to young readers and getting attention across the country.
The heartwarming books have been featured in The Des Moines Register and other outlets. And this fall, Samoranski will be at a book signing for his work at the Barnes & Noble in New York’s Times Square. He’s appeared on Birmingham’s regional television show, Talk of Alabama. He’s also working with local libraries in Alabama, doing presentations and readings. The books have taken on a life of their own, Samoranski said. His publicist is promoting the books for a national audience.
“I was just writing because I like to write. I like to read, and I like my dogs,” Samoranski said. “Everything is kind of happening.”
But his goal isn’t fame and fortune; it’s teaching positive life lessons and igniting a love of reading at a critical time in kids’ lives.
“I didn’t get into this thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to sell a million books. I’m going to retire a millionaire.’ My intent is just to tell stories about my dogs that were relatable to things that siblings go through, that kids go through.”
It seems the retired Navy Chief Petty Officer caught literary lightning in a bottle. After all, his books began publication last December. It seemed an unlikely path for someone who grew up the son of a pianist and followed his two older brothers into the Navy, where he was drawn to engineering.
“Growing up in New York, I was maybe a little bit of a nerd. But I participated in all the sports and stuff,” he said.
After an engineering-focused military career, he moved to teaching with an emphasis on engineering and science. He holds degrees from Samford University, and graduate degrees from Jacksonville State and Liberty University (Educational Specialist and Doctor of Education degrees).
Growing up, a love of music – classical and classic rock – and of reading were his earliest influences, perhaps planting the seeds for a budding author.
“As a product of the 1980s, we didn’t have the things that we have today,” he said. “We didn’t have the internet. We grew up outside.”
But when harsh winter weather hit, things changed. “Being from the North…when we were in the house during those long winter months, we were forced to play our instruments and read. I was a reader.”
Samoranski fears that a passion for books may be lost, one that impacts classroom performance.
“I see that far too often,” he said. “The problems that a lot of these children have these days is because they don’t read. That is the stem of a lot of the academic issues that we have with these kids. They’re so interested in instant gratification with cell phones and social media that they don’t know how to read more than two or three sentences. They don’t know how to visualize stories in their minds as they’re reading the words… That hurts.”
Samoranski hopes the Lacey Jo and Savannah Adventure series will change that.
“When all of this happened with the dogs … As a doctor, I’ve done a lot of writing. With my love of reading and my propensity for writing, it all just came together.”
Seven grandchildren and two daughters – all who love reading – also helped ignite the series.
“I want to provide reading materials and stories that my grandkids are going to enjoy,” he said. “It just all came together – the love of reading and the writing and the grandkids and the dogs.”
As for the Goldendoodle sisters, a medical setback for Lacey Jo – the oldest – prompted the books.
In August 2025, “She started pawing at her eyes,” Samoranski said.
Two days later, after a visit to the vet and treatment with eye drops, Lacey Jo was still pawing at her eyes and bumping into things. A specialist determined she had inflammation that, if untreated, would lead to glaucoma.
Within four days, Lacey was blind in her right eye and had only 25 percent vision in her left eye. It was a heart-wrenching time. Goldendoodles do not generally get glaucoma, and other breeds that develop the condition don’t do so until they are 13 or 14 years of age.
“For her to be five years old and to have this condition was devastating for us. I needed a coping mechanism,” Samoranski said. “And that mechanism was the writing of the books. We have thousands of pictures and all of these stories and all these different things that had happened, so I decided I was going to start writing the books and gear them obviously toward kids.”
The books explore themes that kids deal with on a daily basis – understanding teamwork, sharing, helping, and supporting others, for example – are issues Samoranski sees in the pups. Artificial intelligence was used to help transform family photos of Lacey Jo and Savannah into lively, colorful illustrations on the printed page.
“There are a lot of things that happen with kids and with siblings, but here it’s happening with my dogs,” Samoranski said. “As their relationship and their bond continued to flourish, and they would have these adventures, it struck me that these are the same things that happen with toddlers and with younger kids. So I just started writing.”
He added, “The books are perfect for bedtime stories, grandparents and parents reading to early readers. I start from the point of ‘What are the girls doing?’ That natural engagement, that kind of shows us a story in action, an emotion, and how can that relate to kids?”
His seventh title will be in bookstores and online soon. But Samoranski, who’s been teaching since 1992, has completed 18 stories so far. So, Lacey Jo and Savannah will be romping through childhood imagination for years to come.
“Everybody has a side hustle,” Samoranski said, “and I guess (the books) have turned into that for me.”
For more information about the adventures of Lacey Jo and Savannah, visit www.goldendoodlesisters.com.
