Welcome to Lost My Puppy Publishing

Nathan Strietelmeier grew up poor in a rented trailer in rural Kentucky, where winter wind slipped through thin walls and survival was a daily struggle.

Raised by a single mother on food stamps, he learned early that resilience wasn’t a virtue — it was a requirement.

By fifteen, Nathan already understood struggle, but nothing prepared him for the moment that changed everything. 

In a math class taught by a teacher who hid behind a newspaper instead of teaching, Nathan stood up and demanded accountability. 

That act of defiance became the spark that ignited a chain reaction.

The school system labeled him “disrespectful,” suspended him, and ultimately forced him out. When he didn’t return to school the following year, officials threatened his mother with a misdemeanor, pushing Nathan into emancipation before he was old enough to drive. One condition of emancipation required him to earn his GED, which he did alone — studying in library corners, borrowed couches, and parking lots lit by flickering street lamps. 

Passing the exam wasn’t just an achievement; it was his first victory against a world determined to silence him.

With nothing but a Greyhound Bus ticket, a GED, and a black garbage bag of clothes, Nathan left Kentucky and traveled to Hollywood, California, a place where he didn’t know a single soul. 

He got off the Greyhound Bus with no connections, no safety net, and no one waiting for him. 

Hollywood, however, is a city that tests ambition until it bleeds. Nathan fell into the drug scene, lost his footing, and eventually slipped into homelessness.

Homelessness and addiction wasn’t a phase — it was a war.

Nathan walked so much that his shoes literally disintegrated, leaving him barefoot on hot pavement and broken sidewalks full of broken glass. He kept walking anyway — blistered, bleeding, determined. The old friends he made in Hollywood began calling him “Shoeless Nate.”  

A joke.  

A nickname.  

A reminder of how far he had fallen.

And when he became homeless, those same friends disappeared. They cut ties without hesitation, proving that some relationships only exist when life looks presentable.

He slept on sidewalks, learned the cold of California nights, felt hunger that hollowed the mind, and carried loneliness like a second skin. But he refused to break.

In 2008, everything changed.

Nathan found a dog wandering alone in the parking lot of a Love’s gas station in Texas — scared, hungry, and looking for someone to trust. Nathan took him in. That dog became his lifeline. The unconditional love, loyalty, and presence of that animal pulled Nathan out of the darkest parts of addiction.  

The dog stayed by his side for 15 years, helping him get clean, stay clean, and rebuild his life from the ground up.  

That dog didn’t just save him.  

He became the reason Nathan survived.

With that loyalty beside him, Nathan fought his addiction through a long, brutal war — and he won.

Twenty‑five years after being cast out of school, Nathan returned to academia with the same fire that once made him stand up in that silent classroom. 

In May 2021, he graduated from Christian Brothers University with an Associate of Arts in General Studies and won the Associate Award for holding the highest GPA in his graduating class.

This was not luck.  

This was reclamation.

Today, Nathan Strietelmeier is an American author, artist, actor, and activist whose work is fueled by a deep love for animals and a lifelong commitment to exploring the human experience.

He is the founder of Lost My Puppy Publishing, where he transforms people’s cherished pets into digital keepsakes — NFTs that preserve memory, grief, joy, and connection. His work builds communities through heart‑driven storytelling and art, connecting people across the globe through the emotional gravity of their animals.

A passionate polymath, Nathan has written numerous books and articles spanning psychology, art, history, and social issues. His hunger for knowledge led him to complete online coursework at Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, UC Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania, studying engineering, philosophy, politics, history, and blockchain technology.

Nathan has also appeared as an actor in instructional films —  

 "How to Do Research in the Library", "Parts of Speech", and "The Scientific Method".  These educational works continue to play in libraries around the world.

He is the emancipated poor boy from rural Kentucky.  

The son of a single mother on food stamps.  

The teenager who was kicked out of high school and earned his GED alone.  

The wanderer with a garbage bag who arrived in Hollywood knowing no one.  

Shoeless Nate, walking until the soles gave out.  

The homeless survivor abandoned by the very friends he made in Hollywood.  

The man whose life was saved by a dog in a Texas parking lot.  

The addict who overcame the abyss.  

The student they tried to silence.  

The scholar they couldn’t stop.  

The artist who refused to die.  

The author who refused to disappear.

Nathan didn’t rise because the world listened.  

The world didn’t listen.  

The world didn’t care.

He rose because he refused to stay down.

Every book he writes, every piece of art he creates, every idea he brings into the world is forged from lived experience, shaped by survival, and sharpened by a mind that refused to surrender.

Nathan Strietelmeier didn’t wait for the world to listen.  

He became someone the world can’t ignore.

Please check out Nathan Strietelmeier's books and educational achievements listed below.

Nathan Strietelmeier's Amazon Bookstore

Christian Brothers University 2021 Undergraduate Commencement—

Associate Award Recipient—

"Christian Brothers University Full Length Graduation Ceremony Video-2:59:15"

Brown University-Introduction to Engineering and Design

Dartmouth Universiry-Libertarian Free Will: Neuroscientific and Philosophical Evidence

Georgetown University-How the U.S. Government Works & How to Get Involved

Harvard University-Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology

University of California, Berkeley-Blockchain Technology

University of Pennsylvania-Hollywood: History, Industry, Art

Christian Brothers University-Castings-2019