Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the musical "Cats". Eliot wrote the poems in the 1930s, and included them, under his assumed name "Old Possum", in letters to his godchildren. They were collected and published in 1939, with cover illustrations by the author, and quickly re-published in 1940, illustrated in full by Nicolas Bentley. They have also been published in versions illustrated by Edward Gorey (1982) and Axel
Leadbeater's possum VicForests. The group immediately appealed the decision by the presiding judge Justice Osborne, and the supreme court accepted there was a sound basis for an appeal to the original determination. A supreme court appeal was heard on 24 June 2013 before three judges and MyEnvironment was represented in court by Julian Burnside QC. The appeal was lost. Previously feral cats had only been considered a peripheral threat to Leadbeater's possums, but recent research has found video evidence of cats preying on possums leaving nesting boxes, and of possum remains in stomach contents of trapped feral cats. It is now considered