And they buy animals, but then we have to feed them. The city has to feed them and build facilities for them.” Okay. So I said, “Well, then I’ll come if that happens.” Well, it did happen. And then he, I was interviewed by the city manager, and Kirkpatrick at… Read More
He was the angel, the sponsor. And he used to come to the Fort Worth Zoo, and he would talk to me. In fact, he wanted me to come up there when Warren Thomas had left. But I wasn’t about to do that, leave Fort Worth. And I think he… Read More
Zoos are so expensive and it takes so long to build a zoo structure that you’ve got to have somebody there for 15, 20, 30 years. Conway is probably the best example of that value. So 15 years ago at Fort Worth I was just beginning to get going. So… Read More
And then there were two city employees in the park department who were moved in for brief periods of time. And so you had all of those personnel changes. And this is a big problem with zoos. Zoos, you know, as you know, you’re looking years ahead. You’re building this… Read More
Then there was a director briefly, named Birddog Rogers, do you remember, Birddog?… Read More
But Thomas did a great job there. Read More
It was just moving, what do you call them, moving chairs or something?… Read More
So you applied for then a job at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Okay. And having been burned already, I wanted, you know, here we are and again, park department, and the Oklahoma City Zoo. Every zoo, I guess, has an angel. And in San Diego it was Dr. Wegeforth. Supposedly… Read More
He was not with the city, he was the society. And I thought, well, it’s kind of like Fort Worth again. And he said, “Well, would you like to come to Oklahoma City?” And I said, “I’d love to come, but I’m not gonna work for the park department. I’ve… Read More
Did a good job, did a great job. It was his first mistress, as I said. Thomas was, took Jillian Frazier’s place, he was at Denver. Read More
So I was sort of a front man for the society. Yeah, I’m sure I mean, there’s no doubt in my mind. I mean, I got along great with the society. And they were delighted with, you know what we’d done. We had to do an awful lot of work. Read More
Now, you wanna go to Oklahoma City?… Read More
You became director of the Portland Zoo?… Read More
No. Never did. Never did. It was of the society. I would’ve been if I’d wanted to be, and if we had been successful, but we were successful. But I left probably two weeks before the city signed the contract to turn the zoo over to the society. And it… Read More
Or do you wanted to switch to Oklahoma City?… Read More
And so I went up there and did that. And then in with the zoo conference was in Oklahoma City the next year. And the society at Oklahoma City was asking for applicants. And I applied for Ogilvy’s job that he had left. There had been the problem at Oklahoma… Read More
No, no, but you were, you became… After you, the Portland Zoo Society took over. Yes. Read More
And it was quite a feat. Jack Marks was the zoo director, and he was having an awful lot of problems. It was a bittersweet thing. I mean, I needed a job and I wanted to get that done. And I told Jack, I said, “Jack, I’m just gonna be… Read More
And I was hired as a director of the society to prepare this presentation to the city, and sell them on it and make the transition. That was a very politically loaded job. And the commissioner of parks was really, didn’t wanna, same old thing. it was turf battle, but… Read More
And delightful guy, he had talked, he loved zoos. And he’d gone to the Bronx Zoo, and apparently Bill Conway took him to lunch, took him to dinner, or vice versa. Anyway, they had a very good relationship. And he said, “You know, you,” oh and Mason. What Mason wanted… Read More