Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. It was designed originally with an apartment in it. And Chute said we did this because nobody else in Chicago knew the complete workings of the aquarium. And he said, I felt that I had to be on the spot almost 24 hours a day in… Read More
Or do you (crosstalk) No, that was when they first hired me. Read More
Did he give you any ending advice when you were taking over the helm?… Read More
Was it Mr. Chute?… Read More
I guess it was just sort of an understanding. I guess the board had met some time, something I didn’t know about. Whether it was a fellow by the name of W. Paul McBride, who took over from Stanley Field. And he then and probably maybe an executive committee met… Read More
Was that his final advice to you?… Read More
Was there a national search?… Read More
What, wait a minute. No, there wasn’t. There was some talk I understood from one of the trustees, that they talked about a national search, but I was there. I was assistant director, I guess it only was logical that that would be the next step up into the director’s… Read More
Was it the board?… Read More
How did that come about?… Read More
Why did I consider?… Read More
I had no way to go in and pound on the desk and say, I demand to be director. I mean, I guess I did my job there. And as far as I’m concerned, working at the aquarium and being the director was absolutely best job in the world. Absolutely… Read More
Did they approach you?… Read More
When did you become director of the Shedd Aquarium?… Read More
I wish you’d told me his question was coming. (laughs) When did I? 1964. Read More
And why did you consider becoming director?… Read More
Okay, I can’t give you dates on this, but we had a fellow there by the name of Lewis Reimers who had come up. He started back at the aquarium around 33 or 34 when the world’s fair was on. Started out as a night janitor. In those days, the… Read More
He’s the guy who got all the collecting aquarium put together and made sure that it was in good shape for the next year. And he was collector when I got there, and I worked with him getting all his collecting equipment ready. I think that was my first trip… Read More
Okay, we’ll talk about that in a minute. Captain, we gonna take a little break. Oh, finally. Tell me when you’re ready. We’re all set. All set. Read More
Oh, there’s a lot of challenges. (laughs) Every day I think there was a challenge. People would, I made a couple of big mistakes. We had a tank with alligator garfish in it, and that’s all was in there. And I thought we need a little more action in this… Read More