And he was living alone and it was always a, you know, a problem having a lone animal like that. And We had, there was a lot of things going on with that collection. And especially since you were bringing in animals from the wild, when it was still legal… Read More
I remember that, it was all over, you know?… Read More
And it was really, and of course yaws, it was a scourge of Africa, but of course it was so easily cured by just penicillin. And we gave her some penicillin shots and we cured her of having yaws, which is a, what it was at that time, I know… Read More
And there was a keeper, and he was working in the Children’s Zoo at that time. Boy, I know I could see him right in front of me. And I can’t remember his name now, but he was like a, he claimed to be a psychiatrist, or he was a… Read More
Can you tell us about your thoughts about the great ape collection, and maybe go into the birth of the, your experiences with the birth of the very first gorilla?… Read More
Well yeah, okay. We had some tremendous experiences with the apes there, there was a lot of different kinds, because we were getting, we would, I believe that the zoo was doing the correct thing by bringing in young gorillas, a number of them, to build a family group of… Read More
And it was really, it was a genius remark, I mean truly. It was a little thing, but man, (laughing) it was a genius remark and it worked. So it was really, I just think it was a great, his great way of doing it. Now you had many hopefully… Read More
Not really. Yeah, not really. But I remember one of the things that during our interview, during the interview that I had before being hired, Les took me, they had to do, get some medication to a llama in the Children’s Zoo. And he took me and he wanted me… Read More
He wanted to see me, what I, you know, how I could do things, you know?… Read More
But there was this, you know, his famous saying, he goes, “I couldn’t agree with you more,” (laughing) you know?… Read More
And that would take away any kind of a negative thing that anybody had to say. I mean, it really would, it was just a wonderful, a wonderful saying, which I found myself using when I went to, I was in San Francisco, because it really is. You’d have members… Read More
But even if they weren’t happy, they weren’t saying they weren’t, you know?… Read More
And there was nothing bad with that. That’s actually a good way, that’s actually the way you should be. That’s actually the way you should be. And frankly, I’m gonna have to say, that was the way that honestly, it was very difficult for me to be. And that that… Read More
His calm, very calm, quiet, demeanor was the total opposite of Warren Thomas’. So as Thomas was a mentor to me on the animal end of it, I think Les Fisher was a mentor to me on the handling people. Give me some quick examples, if you can think of… Read More
How would you describe his style and your relationship with him?… Read More
Well his style was very, was reserved, I would say. Not in a bad way, not in a bad way at all. He was, he was friendly, most assuredly. Read More
Do things for you, he would, you know, I mean there was, but there was no question that he was the director of the zoo and you weren’t, you know?… Read More
Well George Irving yes, George Irving was there, but there were two curator positions though. And George Irving was still one curator. Yeah was one, was one of a sort. I mean, George had been there for many, many years and he, really George truthfully was a timekeeper. Basically, he… Read More
What kind of zoo did you find when you got there?… Read More
Well it was a zoo that had traditionally had a good collection, good collection of animals. And traditional old, you know, an older facility that was a very, very popular place with people, with the citizens of Chicago. And needed, could’ve, needed a lot of improvement I think, to come… Read More