Guide dog fund in honour of late journalist
Ms Fox, who died at her home in Brittany, France, on December 17 last, aged 72, championed the work of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) charity during her career with the then Cork Examiner.
In November 1982, she spent a day blindfolded and walked through the streets of Cork with the assistance of a guide dog to experience first-hand what life as a blind person would be like.
Her daughter, Tanya, said she has been inundated since her mother’s death with calls and letters from people who read her columns wondering if they could make a donation to a worthy cause.
“I decided that knowing of mum’s great passion about animals and the guide dogs in particular, I would set up a fund in her memory,” Tanya said.
Tanya travelled to an IGDB breeding facility in Kinsale to chose a puppy from a new litter.
She had hoped to name it Foxy, after her mum, but the IGDB names its puppies in alphabetical order to help it manage certain data and this litter will have names beginning with ‘R’.
Tanya chose Roxy, a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Labrador, born in February.
All donations to the new fund will go towards Roxy’s training as either a guide dog or an assistance dog for a child with autism.
“I am sure many people will agree that this is a fitting tribute to mum and her memory,” Tanya said.
IGDB chief executive Padraig Mallon said Ms Fox was always a great support to the charity at a time when there was a need to inform the public about its work.
“Through her writing, her readers gained an insight and an understanding into the work that was going on at our centre,” he said.
“In turn, those readers began fundraising for the organisation and she became an invaluable asset and ambassador for us.
“We’re delighted to be associated with this celebration of her life.
“It is wonderful to see her support for our organisation continuing with puppy Roxy.
“It is a fitting tribute to a woman who helped to do so much to raise our profile.”
People can donate to Roxy’s puppy fund on www.guidedogs.ie or http://www.guidedogs.ie
* Meanwhile, a service of thanksgiving for the life of Ms Fox will take place at 2.30pm on March 5 in St Michael’s Church, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.
Ms Fox was one of the best-known and most popular female journalists in the south of Ireland.
She joined the then Cork Examiner in 1970 as a copytaker and went on to become one of its most popular journalists.
She covered women’s issues in her Fox on Friday column, but is perhaps best known for the hugely popular Paws Awhile column, which was “written” by her dog, Ponsonby, who would often accompany her to work.
In 1986, she was the first Irish print journalist to receive an award for her “outstanding contribution to world peace and friendship”.
The Friendship Force International Awards, decided by a panel which included Rosalynn Carter — wife of the ex-US president Jimmy Carter — was presented to her in March, 1986.
She was also renowned for her charity work, and set up the Coal Fund, to which her readers donated. She retired from the Examiner in 1991.
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