Dreama Denver and her life of service

Jun. 18—Dreama Denver, a Bluefield native with a significant list of talents including writing, has a new children's book available now.

Denver promoted her new book "Zen and Now" at the Princeton Street fair, and was excited that she was able to show off her work at the local event.

Denver recently hosted the Celebrate Princeton fair that was on June 11 along with new Princeton resident and Hollywood alum Julie Mccollough. Mccollough was known for her role in the '90s sitcom "Growing Pains."

"Zen and Now" follows the story of a rescue dog and its owner.

"It is about the love of our rescues and how a rescue dog and his person can actually save each other," said Denver.

Denver said the story is based on her real life rescue dog Zen that she had up until he passed away July of 2021. She called him the "love of her life dog."

"I've gone through a lot of things like losing my husband, and a lot of things that everyone eventually goes through, so when zen came into my life, he filled all these empty places," she said. "He gave me something to focus on and something to love and care for, so when I lost him, I cried every day for months and months."

The night Zen died, Denver said she realized she had to write a book about him.

"The first thought I had the night he passed away was that I needed to write a book about the life between a rescue dog and their person and how they really rescued each other," she said.

Denver is an advocate for pets and rescues, so she felt her book was important and a good way to shine more light on the joys of rescuing.

"Rescuing is just so important," she said. "We have so many animals in the country and all over the world who need good and loving homes, and if I can advocate for that on any level, I am happy to do it."

Denver recently adopted a husky from the Mercer County Animal Shelter, and she felt that she should emphasize the importance of rescuing.

"I can't bear to see an animal in a cage looking at me with those sad eyes wishing you could be his person and he or she could come home with you," she added. "That just breaks my heart, so I just found that rescues tend to have a special thankfulness that you can feel."

"Zen and Now" is Denver's third book and second children's book. Her first was telling her story of her life with her husband called "Gilligan's Dreams." Denver is the widow of the late Bob Denver of 'Gilligan's Island."

Denver, who was Perry at the time, graduated from Bluefield High School (BHS) in 1968, but Denver credits her interest in acting to BHS because she acted in a play for the first time there. She and her family moved to Florida soon after, which is where she got her start as an actress.

"I was in a show called 'Play It Again, Sam' which is where I first met Bob," said Denver.

Denver said when the two first shook hands, the connection between her and Bob was undeniable.

"It was very interesting because there was this electric connection from the minute we met, and everyone else around us felt it too," said Denver.

The couple began to work with each other all the time, and Denver said the two married in 1979, about a year and a half after they met. Denver also starred in "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" alongside Bob.

"No one was surprised when we finally got married," she said. "We worked together for about six years before I became pregnant with Colin, and everything changed when we found out he has special needs."

The couple found that their son needed their attention 24/7, so they gave up acting and moved to a quieter place to raise Colin because at that time they were living in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While house hunting, Denver said the couple was originally looking in Lexington, Virginia, but it was Bob that suggested they look into Denver's hometown, Bluefield.

"We came down and stayed in a hotel while we looked around," she said. "We told the realtor what we were looking for, and we found the perfect place for us."

Denver said the main reason they stayed was because of Bob's love for the area.

"Bob loved it here so much. He loved the people, he loved the area geographically," she said. "People were so kind to him here, and they actually let him have a life without being bothered. He could go different places, and people just treated him like a regular neighbor."

Denver emphasized that Bob thought it was important to be a normal person in Bluefield for their son, and she thanks the people for allowing him that opportunity.

"That was really important to him, and I want to thank the people who gave him the freedom just to be Bob," she said.

While the couple was taking care of their son, they felt the need to help more people in their similar situation, so they established two non-profits, the Denver Foundation and Little Buddy Radio. Denver is now the president of both.

"We really wanted to be able to do something to help the families that had special needs and autistic people," said Denver.

She also added, "The radio station is owned and operated by the Denver Foundation, so any money made by the station goes directly into the Denver Foundation account."

Bob and Denver ran the non-profits together while caring for their son until Bob passed away in 2005.

Denver stayed in West Virginia even after Bob's passing because of her love for the area and her closeness to family members, the only thing she is not a fan of is the snow in the winter.

"I'm very thankful and proud to be a West Virginian and back in my neck of the woods," said Denver.

Denver keeps her time occupied with a few other things in addition to being an author and being president of the Denver Foundation and Little Buddy radio.

"Of the things I do locally, I am proud of them all, but I'm especially proud of Always Free Honor Flights because I love our veteran," said Denver.

She founded West Virginia's "first sanctioned Honor Flight program."

"This program allows WV veterans free trips to Washington, DC to visit memorials built in honor of their service," said Denver. "The program is so important to me."

Denver is a very big supporter of veterans and their sacrifice for their country.

"Everything we have in this country, every freedom, everything we're able to do as free Americans is because our veterans were willing to sign a blank check which meant giving their lives if they had to," she said. "There are not thank you's big enough for the men and women that have stepped up."

Denver's career as an author actually did not start until after Bob's death.

"It was interesting to me that the first part of my adult life I was an actress working with huge actors, and at some point after Bob's death, I was encouraged to write 'Gilligan's Dreams,'" said Denver.

She also added, "It was very cathartic to write the book, it was healing, and that was good."

Denver said the main point of writing "Gilligan's Dreams" was to show people the real Bob rather than the television personality that Bob Denver was before and to prove that celebrities are not exempt from real world struggles like having an autistic child.

"I really wanted people, through my book, to get to know Bob as a person and also to find inspiration and comfort that nobody is immune from the possibility of this kind of challenge," she said.

While Denver enjoyed writing "Gilligan's Dreams," she said she loves being a children's author.

"Being a children's author, I got to tell you, it has been a blessing in a way that you could never imagine," said Denver. "It's such a joy to know that you have put something out into this world for our young children, something creative and imaginative and joyful and positive. That is such a great feeling, and it has been an amazing journey."

"Zen and Now" is Denver's second children's book, her first being "Four Bears in a Box," which was inspired by her Bob while he was still alive but forgotten about until recently.

"Our son got to be a little bit more challenging, a bit more of a handful, so I put the book away and honestly forgot about it," she said. "I didn't think about it until I found it in some of my old stuff when I was going through some things in 2019, and then I got it published."

Denver actually plans to have a second "Four Bears" book coming out in August, so she wants people to be on the lookout for those announcements later on in the year.

"I want to make it a series, so I plan to have a few more 'Four Bears' books after the one in August as well," she said.

Denver has been awarded several times for her books such as winning the New York Book Festival and was an International Book Awards finalist for Best Memoir just to name a couple.

She has also been awarded several things for her community and non-profit work.

These awards include West Virginia's Wonder Women by WV Living magazine, Outstanding Citizen Award in 2014 by American Legion Riley-Vest Post #9, Citizen of the Year in January 2015 by the Princeton Mercer County Chamber of Commerce. In March of the same year, and the Sons of the American Revolution's Outstanding Female Citizen of the Year in March 2015.

Denver is very proud of all of her work, and she plans to keep doing all that she can to help her community and those she can reach through her non-profit work.