Well since I came up through the ranks, most of the people or the staff knew me when I was nothing. And so I was nice to the people that I went up through the ranks with. I shared as much as I could of my benefits. I shared with… Read More
What was your relationship with Bob Hyland and how significant was he in development of the zoo?… Read More
Did your managing or management strategies change over the years?… Read More
You’ve indicated you had been micromanaged or there were people who micromanage. Read More
Did you have an open-door policy?… Read More
Was it hard to move people in that direction or did you have a plan?… Read More
The big problem that I had in moving from show business to conservation was with the general public. The people loved the animal shows. They loved the monkey show. Even though it was chimpanzees to the public, it was the monkey show. But my curatorial staff were young people. They… Read More
They were part of that movement. So we had to convince our public through our public relations, press relations, our interviews with the press so that we slowly would educate our public on what our zoo was trying to do and why it was important that we do it. And… Read More
How important would you say the Species Survival Plan was and how did you as director of the zoo make it an important part of the zoo philosophy at your zoo?… Read More
Well as my zoo staff developed, I made sure that every curator was involved with AZA and that their collection became part of AZA Species Survival Plans that most of them were on committees and so on. Many became chairman of the committee. Because we thought it was extremely important… Read More
Were there attitudes that you had to try and change when people were coming from the animal show philosophy that you were kinda phasing out to this survival conservation philosophy?… Read More
So I think you have to re-examine your master plan and make adjustments as you go. I think our current master plan that they’re working on our zoo now is a 50-year master plan but with five-year increments for the first five, the second five and the 50 year is… Read More
How would you tell me or would you, how did your style of directing evolve and change or did it?… Read More
I think my style improved as I went through the ranks and was influenced by different people. But I think probably by the time I got to be director, I was so unsure of my capability of doing the thorough job, I realized how much I would depend on other… Read More
I did bring animals home once in a while to give a bottle. But often I went to the zoo at night, especially with baby orangs, gorillas and apes. We never took them home. They were at the zoo. We’d go to the zoo at night and give the bottle. Read More
Was there a master plan for the St Louis Zoo before you became director that you were following or did you want to initiate a master plan?… Read More
And the followup to that is how long should a master plan be a master plan?… Read More
Well I initiated the first master plan. The zoo did not have one. I initiated one ’bout maybe my second or third year with the assistant of the Board of Directors. And we had a five-year master plan that was to upgrade the infrastructure of the zoo using the money… Read More
My children, actually when they were really little, I still had the pet shop and they helped raise a lotta baby animals. Wolves and coyotes. And so they grew up with animals before I went to the zoo. By the time I got to the zoo, they were already teenagers. Read More
When the zoo had a fundraising party, I would be at the gate with big boa or python around my shoulders, making sure everybody that came to the party if they wanted to, they got the chance to touch a snake. Marilyn was often sitting at my side greeting people,… Read More