What classes should I take in?” They had no idea. They had no idea because they were strictly academics. And later on in years when I started work at the zoo and I kept in touch with my professors, when they would have students, undergrad students who said, “I wanna… Read More
Well, I knew, I think intuitively that I had to have of education as well as experience here. I was working in the Children’s Zoo in the summer, but I was, I had gone to Southern Illinois University and I gotten my bachelor’s degree, and then I pursued a master’s… Read More
Do you think the university understood about somebody wanting to work in a zoo?… Read More
No. It was interesting because when I was at Southern Illinois University and I would tell my professors that I wanted to work in a zoo, they were aghast. Read More
So what animals were you drawn to?… Read More
Well, I always liked the mammals and I subsequently, although I was always interested in snakes. My first book that I ever got was a 1954 reptile book. I think it was a Zim book from my aunt, my Aunt Jeanette who got me this, I still have it today,… Read More
So what type of schooling did you have?… Read More
Magic is a hobby. Interestingly enough, I always try to sell magic as part because when you do magic, people, you have their attention. And that’s the idea sometimes. You have their attention, you can deliver a story whatever it is. So we worked up when I was at the… Read More
Unfortunately, it never, I couldn’t get it to the right people. Some of the people that thought it was a good idea in education and subsequently left. So it just didn’t have the legs, but still a good idea. But it just, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use the hobby… Read More
So going back to early age, you talked about you had a first meeting with Marlin Perkins. When I was a kid, I would watch a show called “Zoo Parade” and “Zoo Parade” was filmed live at Lincoln Park Zoo with Marlin Perkins, then the director of Lincoln Park Zoo,… Read More
He said, “If you wanna have fun and enjoy your life, work in a zoo with the animals.” Wise man. He says, “If you wanna wanna make money, don’t work in a zoo.” (interviewer and Mark laughing) Now, Marlin had, I think he’s caking either two, because he was doing… Read More
You see so and so, it’s taken care of.” So I go down there and there’s all the hubbub of kids, and people getting ready for the summer. And I said, “My name is Mark.” I don’t even get my name out. Read More
She said, “Where have you been?… Read More
We’ve been holding this job for you.” I guess you could say then, the rest is history. But I started my job at Lincoln Park Zoo in 1967 summer as a summer laborer who, I wasn’t even a keeper. We worked in the Children’s Zoo and I thought it was… Read More
What’s that about?… Read More
And I’d been, I’d had all this exposure to it. So this was kind of the genesis of I always wanted to work with living animals. And I always, I never didn’t wanna work in a museum with dead animals, but I wanted to work with living animals and there,… Read More
I have images of him, vague but images of this large animal in the old monkey house. And you know, “How would you remember Bushman?” “He was,” (babbling) but just as a kid ’cause we were there every day. So that was really my upbringing was Lincoln Park Zoo, literally… Read More
So my story essentially is I wanted to work at the zoo and I would see summer helpers at the zoo and I would go, “How do you get that job?” Well, Chicago’s a very political city at the time, probably still is. And I would, we would always talk… Read More
We should get together for dinner.” And that was it. He hangs up the phone. And he says to me, “Why you still here?” And I went, “What do you mean?” He says, “You got the job.” He had been talking to his friend, William McFetridge, who was the chairman… Read More
What’s the beginning for Mark Rosenthal?… Read More