“Inspiration never truly leaves the place it called home.”

Beneath towering oaks stands the McGroarty Arts Center — once the home of poet John Steven McGroarty and his beloved muse: a large yellow cat. Wherever McGroarty went, the cat followed; whenever he wrote, its spirit prowled between the lines. The cat’s mischief and devotion were often captured in McGroarty’s Los Angeles Times column to the delight of his readers.

Decades later, long after McGroarty and his muse had left this earth, volunteers arrived at his old home to restore his library. As they sorted through his writings, a ray of sunlight spilled across the dusty floor. In that light, the yellow cat appeared — eyes gleaming, fur shimmering, tail twitching. Then as the light shifted, it vanished, leaving the witnesses awestruck.

Some say the Yellow Cat’s spirit still wanders the rooms of the McGroarty Arts Center. Brushing against the legs of artists at their easels, curling beside a potter at the wheel, or padding across a poet’s page, the furry muse continues to spread sparks of creative inspiration wherever it goes.