I think we learn a lot from these people, but it’s hard to go back and say, Joe taught me this, Mike taught me this. I think people like Dr. Ross Nigrelli from the New York Aquarium, Murray Newman from the Vancouver Aquarium, a number of people from SeaWorld ’cause… Read More
Did you develop relationships with Japanese and Asian aquariums or European aquariums?… Read More
I did develop relationships with European aquariums. And with Asians, particularly (indistinct) from Nagoya. And I worked with him very closely in designing his new aquarium, both the phase one, as they call it, and then phase two. I think I was pretty much responsible for developing and designing his… Read More
What professionals in aquariums or otherwise did you respect and learn from, and who had the most influence on you?… Read More
What other aquarium directors had influence on me?… Read More
And then you’re gonna ask me, why did they have an influence on me?… Read More
I cannot answer that question. I don’t know. The only reason, of course, is they’re hopefully non-toxic, they don’t corrode, they don’t rust. And so, in some of the exhibits, they were useful that way, but it was never a big deal, at least for me, be able to work… Read More
Was there a time that the Shedd switched from glass fronts to acrylic panels in exhibitry?… Read More
Well, how did they switch?… Read More
The glass fronts on some of the bigger tanks, yes. They went to the acrylics, and you could get larger pieces. And, of course, they’re in the huge tanks, like the oceanariums, particularly at SeaWorld, places like that, acrylics were very useful where you can get enormous sizes. And that’s… Read More
Well, how did artificial seawater affect the… I don’t think there was any appreciable effect or improvement. We were able to keep up the volume we needed ’cause you’re always wasting water and you just can’t help it. You’re cleaning the tanks. You’re siphoning the water off. Sum has to… Read More
How important was the use of acrylics in exhibition?… Read More
How important were acrylics?… Read More
What was the direction you wanted education to take?… Read More
I think the biggest overall direction was just getting school children in there and teaching them as much as they could absorb about the aquatic world. We got some good instructors in there and hopefully sending these kids home with a better appreciation, about what lives under the waves and… Read More
How did that come about and how did that change affect the evolution of the Shedd exhibits?… Read More
What types of things would you have dreamed to do?… Read More
Well, I think I would have put in a very substantial research department and that was something that I never was able to get to. We improved the laboratory. We brought in some research people, but I wasn’t able to expand and make a large research department, which I think… Read More
Just once I had that thrust on me, and it was such a minor thing that I… A friend of one of the board members had a shell collection and he didn’t know what to do with it. And he thought maybe putting it on exhibit at the aquarium, like… Read More
To what extent did space constraints, indoors or outdoors on the aquarium hinder your ability to plan for improvements that called for more space?… Read More