New York Times Bestselling Author Isabel Klee Shares Messages of Love, Resilience and Animal Advocacy at Kean
Students, faculty and community members gathered at Kean University’s STEM Auditorium to hear New York Times bestselling author and animal advocate Isabel Klee discuss how her lifelong love of dogs inspired her mission to help animals in need as part of Kean’s President’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
A New Jersey native, Klee is known to her online followers through her social media accounts, @simonsits. Through stories about her beloved dogs and her experiences fostering and rescuing animals, she encouraged the audience to help make a difference in the lives of others.
“I think the meaning of life is simple – it is to live free and love hard,” Klee said. “It is to not fear the end, because you know the pain meant it was worth it. And, no matter what, there will be joy waiting for you.”
Kean senior Ana Marziano said Klee’s honesty and passion made a lasting impression.
“I was so excited to hear that Isabel was coming to speak at Kean,” Marziano said. “She was so intellectual and her message comes across so clearly in how emotional and passionate she is about what she does, and that really reverberated around the room.”
While growing up in South Orange, Klee convinced her parents to bring home Ruby, a golden retriever who taught her about love and experiencing loss. That lesson carried into adulthood, when she began volunteering at an animal rescue in college and eventually adopted Simon, a puppy from Korea who suffered from epilepsy and recently passed away.
Caring for Simon inspired Klee to foster dogs often overlooked by adopters, including those with medical conditions or difficult pasts.
“I think there’s a part of us that sees ourselves in these dogs,” Klee said. “They see a shutdown, traumatized dog, who has experienced the absolute worst in life and slowly, day by day, they see them get better. Through that journey, that healing, they understand that if a dog can get better, maybe they can too.”
In Simon’s honor, Klee and her supporters have raised nearly $1 million for animal rescue, and Muddy Paws Rescue also dedicated a clinic in his name.
“Simon’s softness touched people,” Klee said. “I would even go so far as to say his softness changed the world, making it a better place for rescue animals as we know it.”
Klee emphasized that small acts, such as opening one’s home to an animal in need, can have a lasting impact. That resonated with Cranford resident Jenniver Covello.
“Isabel’s message was to focus on what you want to do and do good in the world, especially in the pet community,” Covello said.
During a question-and-answer session moderated by Audrey M. Kelly, Kean’s chief of staff and executive director for Board Operations, Klee discussed her writing process, a planned television adaptation, her college years, and ways people can support animal rescue organizations through volunteering, fostering and donating.
Westfield resident Ingrid McKinley appreciated Klee’s openness about love and loss.
“It was highly emotional,” McKinley said. “She’s a very well-spoken person and she resonates with a lot of people. Her stories hit home with me as someone that has had to make hard decisions with pets.”
Following the lecture, Klee spent time speaking with attendees about their own pets and experiences with fostering, as well as signing copies of her book, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About.
Klee’s appearance was the first President’s Distinguished Lecture of the 2026-2027 academic year. The next speaker in the series will be #1 New York Times bestselling author Colson Whitehead, who will visit Kean on Monday, February 8, 2027. For more information, visit www.kean.edu/lectureseries.
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