I decided to leave Rochester, not too willingly, but I was at a conference in Pittsburgh at a zoo conference and a fellow came up to me or I’d never met before and he said, “I’m from San Antonio, Texas and our zoo director has passed away and we were looking for somebody. And I hear from a number of people that you are someone I ought to talk to.” And I said, “Fine.” He said, “I’d like to meet with you for breakfast tomorrow and discuss our need.” I did that. And we just talked about what I knew about San Antonio. I knew Fred Stark, a longtime zoo director there and corresponded with him a lot. Saw him at conferences. I knew he was a terrific bird person, had a good collection. I didn’t know much about San Antonio, but what the man told me was, “We want someone who can go forward with our zoo.” And so I said, “Well, I’d be happy to come down and visit with you and your selection committee.” Which I did, and when I did that, I found there were people who were dedicated and determined to find someone who can plan a zoo for them for the future. And when I looked at San Antonio, I thought, what a great opportunity.
