He’s living on a farm now, but that’s the end of the story, not the beginning.

And Rupert, the red rooster, may be the most famous rooster in Island history.

His story begins in May 2009, when he somehow managed to escape from his original owner.

My affair with Katama began about 30 years ago. I was sitting in the office of my state-certified, water-testing laboratory when the phone rang. A voice with a familiar tone asked, “May I speak with the owner.”

“Yes, you are speaking with the owner, this is William. With whom am I speaking?”

In the early 1990s Jane Brown was living in Virginia surrounded by family and a large community of friends. She moved to Virginia in the 1950s because her first husband was employed there. So, for 40 years Jane raised her three sons and taught grade school English in Virginia — until one day . . .

As expressed by her son, Chris, “One day Mom announced she was moving full-time to Martha’s Vineyard. She said she felt the Island was calling her home. So she consciously moved to the Island to live out her remaining years.”