The lessons that I learned from my father actually probably came in later, but the one lesson I did learn, my dad and I had a relationship early on where I was a keeper. I was sending back cassette tapes with my experiences when I was learning. And I would question some things that were going on at the zoo. And as he explained to me in one of the tapes coming back, and I still have those tapes. I was surprised when I was going through my dad’s stuff that he had some of them. He said, “Until you sit in that seat of ultimate responsibility, there’s no way to fully understand why Louis was making this decision or that decision. And as you move up the ranks, you will start to understand that.” And that was very much a true statement. The other thing that I learned from him was getting out and seeing other zoos.
