Well, I don’t know how it came about, how they picked me, but I’m glad they did because I learned a lot. I spent five and a half years going to Washington and visiting museums all over the country. As a part of that organization, my job was to keep… Read More
Did the president personally call you for this appointment or?… Read More
No, no, he didn’t personally call me, but I have a very nice appointment, framed appointment certificate on my wall that I’ve always been very fond of. And I got a Christmas card every year from the White House. Read More
So, has it stayed true to the goals that you as a founding member wanted it to be for the members of the organization?… Read More
I think it’s followed the goals that I had in mind and probably beyond because things have changed so much. We’re living in a very fast moving time of our lives and so as the organization just gone wild with numbers, for example, their membership must be way up compared… Read More
How did that come about and what did it involve?… Read More
Now you had some ideas of what you wanted this new organization to do and be?… Read More
We’ve come a long way since the breakaway first started, has the AAZPA or now AAZA evolved into something you had envisioned in those days?… Read More
Well, it’s evolved into something that I had envisioned, and I think all of us envisioned, but beyond. It’s now an enormous organization. I looked at the number of conferences, for example, in the last Connect Magazine and there is a slew of them for all the staff members to… Read More
During that time, we had been members of the NRPA, which came after the American Institute of Park Executives. And that came about because NRPA overtook the usefulness of AIPE for all members. We as AAZPA affiliates of that organization were becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of… Read More
And each of us put $25 into the hat to start our organization and to build the charter and bylaws just for us. And I tell you, we couldn’t have done it without Peg Dankworth who was our executive secretary at that time. And Peg kept us going, kept us… Read More
How was it received by the mass membership?… Read More
I believe the mass membership was all in favor. At least the majority must have been because we were getting this feedback from the membership that they were frustrated over so many things, and we just had to get something accomplished there. Read More
What kinds of things made you nuts?… Read More
Well, of course budget time is always frustrating. You plan for certain years to get something accomplished and because of budget in hard times, and now the present zoo staff people are uncertain having their difficulty with the economy in this day and age, I didn’t have quite as bad,… Read More
Why at that time was the split necessary and how did people within the zoo community handle this idea?… Read More
And ain’t it great?… Read More
I mean, you don’t see that too often anymore where it hangs on and people get the job done quite nicely. Read More
What were some of your frustrating times at San Antonio?… Read More
How do you think that affected all zoos, obviously in San Antonio?… Read More