On a warm day in February 2026, Dr. Esa Seegulam presented on The Philosophy of Schmutz in the Camp Point Library. There were three staff members and eight guests, including myself, at this enlightening event. The event was scheduled to start at noon (I’m friends with all the library staff, and my sister is a staff member). I helped set things up prior to the event’s start time, moving a few shelves around so that there would be plenty of room for chairs.

I found Dr. Seegulam very humble and easy to talk to. He offered to help set things up and was very professional throughout his presentation. His presentation was engaging and enlightening! One of the first stories that he talks about in his book is about how his cat doesn’t like boxes (which is unusual). He does everything he can to make her like them, but nothing works, and he’s stopped trying. He came to the conclusion that he can’t force Schmutz (his cat) to like boxes and that’s okay!

The Philosophy of Schmutz (published in late 2025) is Dr. Seegulam’s only book. He is originally from Trinidad and came to the United States to attend Williams College in 2002. He said that he fell in love with the United States right from his first step on its soil and loves his small-town community. He has lived in Canton, Missouri, for ten years and has worked as a professor for Culver-Stockton’s Biology Department. He currently works in marketing, which gives him the free time to travel around to different communities to talk about his book.

The Philosophy of Schmutz is an insightful read. Dr. Seegulam has taken simple steps to remind readers how we can change our lives if we choose to follow them; each chapter is a different simple “truth,” where he starts out telling a story about his rescue cat, Schmutz, and then follows it up with a brief explanation about how to follow this truth.

Dr. Seegulam started off his event by telling us the story of how he first met Schmutz out in the cold on December 16, 2015. She was 1.2 pounds, very sick, and the vet was skeptical that she would survive. Dr. Seegulam explained that she was covered in “schmutz,” which is how he came up with her name. Her eye was swollen shut, and the vet and Dr. Seegulam concluded that it should be removed as it was causing her pain. Despite these physical challenges, Schmutz pulled through and has had a full life for ten years because of Dr. Seegulam’s efforts to save her and give her the life that every pet deserves.

He pondered what to do for her tenth “gotcha day,” and his friends and family gave him the idea of what his book turned out to be. It is a marvelous read. I went into this event with little information about the book and no knowledge of the author.

I talked to Amber, one of the Co-Directors at the library, to ask her what she thought of the event and Dr. Seegulam. She said:

“M.E. Seegulam is a fantastic speaker and so personable! From the moment he walked into the library, he was so easy to talk to, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to his presentation. His love for his cat and his passion for this project is contagious and resonated with anyone who has ever loved an animal.”

I asked another staff member named Brylie what she thought of the event: “This was really fun and informative. I liked learning about Esa’s creative process, and how he came up with the idea for his book. I think the philosophical connections between Schmutz and life lessons was genius.

I enjoyed this event and experience. I think Dr. Seegulam’s book would still resonate with people who are not pet owners because of the philosophical aspects of the book. It’s not only about his cat, but he is choosing to see how life could be through his experiences with Schmutz.

After his presentation was over, he directed everyone’s attention to a small table set up with a few merchandise items along with copies of his book, and even went into the details of designing his logo and merch. It was refreshing to hear that he hired an artist and was completely against using A.I. for any of his work. I purchased his book, along with a few other guests, and he happily signed them! It was such a wonderful experience that opened my eyes to another book that I would never have discovered on my own.