I mean, things did change. So I went there as a zoologist. And we would be responsible for running, just taking care of the zoo day to day. And on weekends, we worked the same days actually. And John would be covering the zoo. John would be covering the zoo… Read More
Okay, so the zoo was city owned and operated and we came the park’s department. The staff at the zoo consisted of the zoo director. There was a general, excuse me, general curator. And the zoologist. When I was hired at the zoo, John hired me, the general curator had… Read More
I mean, what was the structure of the zoo?… Read More
So who were you working with?… Read More
It was a small collection. They also had a sea lion pool, which shortly after I came, we stopped using, it became just deficient. I mean, it was just falling apart. The city didn’t fund the zoo very well, small zoo, but it met the community’s needs. Read More
Evansville is located in Southern, the most Southern extreme point of Indiana. It was at the time, the largest zoo in Indiana. I mean, since then other zoos have grown, Indianapolis became a pretty big zoo, is a big zoo. It was a small zoo that had, excuse me, basic… Read More
They kept tapir in another exhibit and they had one elephant and that building was built in 55, and I went there in 72. They also had an older building called the old building actually, connect building. And it housed the cats. They had leopards and tigers and primates in… Read More
When you went to Evansville under the director, what kind of zoo did you find and what was it like when you first got there?… Read More
So I then went to Evansville as a zoologist. Read More
And it didn’t take me long to make that decision because I did do it because once again, knowing the field was so small, how often do you get an opportunity like this?… Read More
And then here I get offered this job. Read More
They’re going, I have to move, take a pay cut, go to a smaller city, do I want to do it?… Read More
And what was my responsibilities?… Read More
And I talked to John, this was probably, I started working there in June of 1972. And in September, I was offered a job as a zoologist at the Mesker Park Zoo. And then I started thinking, career choices. I mean, and it literally, it was a smaller zoo in… Read More
Well, once again, getting into Lincoln Park, I had the advantage of getting these jobs politically, but I also knew at the time, and I still say this today if anyone asks me about it, I mean, it’s important to get your foot into the door, volunteer at a zoo,… Read More
How did you think you were gonna get into the profession full time?… Read More
How did that occur?… Read More
And what did you think about doing this full time now?… Read More
I wanted to major in zoology, I wanted to go onto vet school. I saw that wasn’t going to happen because the curriculum that they had for vet school required more chemistry than I had the ability to pass. So I was just happy to stay in zoology and I… Read More
Did you have an idea of this career path after that?… Read More