A feline celebrity, Fup was a cat that everyone loved. Back when Portland was a simpler place and Powells had a technical bookstore, Fup was not so much an attraction to the store, but more like a beloved employee. Most customers would not really notice Fup as she would spend a lot of time sleeping or ignoring people. However, Powells regulars were very fond of the cat.

As you can see, Fup even had her own business card, as well as an email address. Of course, I have never heard of a cat with purr-sonalized emails, but it’s said that Fup was truly a paw-fessional communicator.

The name Fup is obviously quite strange and unusual. Nobody is quite sure where the name comes from. However, there is a rumour that the ex-manager of the store had a sister with a cat named “Puff”, so he simply reversed the letters and named the cat this way.

During the early 2000’s, there was a lot of Fup merchandise available such as gift cards showing the cats image, T-shirts and stickers. However, fans of the cat will be pleased to know that there is still a Fup secular candle available for sale with an 80 hour burn time!

Fup eventually lived to 19 years old, before passing away in 2007, but her memory still lives on. In fact, if you go to Powell’s books downtown and visit the rare book room, you will find a small shrine tribute to Fup which displays her collar and ashes.