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Sit! 13 new ‘Marley’ books are coming

The ‘world’s worst dog’ taught lessons about loyalty, unconditional love

Image: John Grogan with Gracie
Rick Smith / AP
This 2006 file photo shows John Grogan, author of the best selling memoir "Marley & Me," with his new dog, Gracie, at his home in Emmaus, Pa.
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TODAY staff and wire
updated 5:23 p.m. ET June 11, 2009

Call it the luck of Marley.

The late Labrador retriever made famous by "Marley & Me" will be the hero of 13 children's books by "Marley" author John Grogan. The first of the series comes out this summer, HarperCollins Children's Books announced Thursday.

Grogan's "Marley & Me," published in 2005, is a million-selling memoir and the basis for the hit movie of the same name, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

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Dubbed "the world's worst dog" in the original book about him, the 97-pound Marley crashed through screen doors with alarming regularity. He went berserk during thunderstorms, destroying everything in his path. He stole food off the dinner table, slobbered incessantly, drank from the toilet bowl, and ate bath towels, sponges, socks, used tissues, plastic toys, furniture, speaker covers, paychecks, even an expensive gold necklace.

He was incorrigible. And utterly lovable.

In his memoir, Grogan remembered his late pooch as an irrepressible force of nature and as a faithful companion who taught his human masters a thing or two about loyalty and unconditional love.

Not bad fodder at all for a series of children's books.

This story contains information from The Associated Press.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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