Larry Matthews can talk to the animals - well, at least cats.

Matthews, who lived most of his life in Warren County, released “The Cat Connection” last month. The Kindle book follows his life through the cats he owned, and communicated with.

It starts in the 1940s with Gabriel Churchcat, the domestic-shorthair, who Matthews received at age 9. The white and grey cat slept on Matthews bed until he left to study journalism and geology at Penn State University.

Then came Columbus, the Russian Blue mix, who is the central cat of the memoir, as he lived 31 years - a few years shy of the longest-living cat.

“My children thought he was immortal,” said Matthews, who now lives in Florida.

It was Columbus who Matthews first communicated with, non-verbally, as the cat pawed his chest before falling asleep at their Warren County farmhouse.

“It’s hard to describe, but we had many mental conversations,” said Matthews, who also conversed with other cats. Conversations were often lessons about life and death.

That’s just two of hundreds of cats Matthews owned throughout his life as an instrument-rated pilot, cave explorer and editor of the National Speleological Society’s magazine.

They weren’t all named house cats, of course. Most lived outside on his 10-acre Bunnell Hill Road farm, just three miles north of Lebanon, where he lived with his wife and two children from 1969 to 1985.

“The Cat Connection” recants time spent in this “old, brick farmhouse,” as well as Matthews’ discovery of a new section of a Virginia cave and plane landings through tumultuous weather.

If you like cats or reminiscing about the past, Matthews recommends the $4.99 Kindle book available at Amazon.com.

“It’s an interesting memoir,” said Matthews. “I’ve always felt more complete with cats.”