In reflecting on the years at Lincoln Park Zoo, 30 years is a long time to think about, but to condense it, I think the highlight of my time at Lincoln Park was the fact that I started the rebuilding of the Old Zoo. I mentioned earlier that Marlin was… Read More
And another wonderful, wonderful lady with the same name was Marilyn McCormick, the widow of the Colonel McCormick of the Chicago Tribune Corporation. And Marilyn lived in the near north side and Hope brought her on as zoo society board. Marilyn also served on the Anti-Cruelty Society board with me,… Read More
So I think as I reflect back, these were probably some of the sorta frustrating times working within a large municipal bureaucracy. Again, I mentioned earlier that happily I could run the zoo, as I thought it was important to make it go. And then over a period of time,… Read More
I used to think to myself, we had animals in jail. The old barred cages that were accepted 50 years, 80, 100 years ago were no longer acceptable, and it was important to improve the Old Zoo. So the Zoo Society made things happen at the Park District. And one… Read More
But in reality in Chicago, anyway, it was an extension to City Hall. The mayor would appoint the commissioners with the approval of the City Council. And so these were all friends of the mayors and the bureaucratic overlay was comparable to what it would be at city, same at… Read More
What were some of the frustrations you had as zoo director?… Read More
I think in looking back at my time at Lincoln Park Zoo, that the biggest frustrations would be the bureaucratic overlay. There were times that you’d wanna see things done better, quicker. And it just doesn’t work that way in a city bureaucracy. And the Park District is just a… Read More
But anyway, she was then, and still is a trustee of this Animal Foundation, and I’ve been part of it for 30 or 40 years. And so three times a year at our meetings, Betty and I would always have a dinner together at one of the nights of the… Read More
How did you meet Betty White, who was a actress and personality?… Read More
Well, one of my favorite animal people, I guess, in the whole world is a woman named Betty White. Betty has been around Chicago and the country for forever, she’s about the same age I am. And one time in the Chicago area, I’d been involved with a group called… Read More
And when he came, there’d be an entourage, and he would arrive, and was the presence, the man is here. and he very, very much cared about his zoo. And let me know that the reason that he enjoyed the zoo was that when he was a youngster, the zoo… Read More
And as a result of my zoo job, I had a chance, I had exposure to the leaders of the business community, the labor unions, I had a chance to meet many people through social contacts, and I’ve always felt that that was a wonderful privilege for me, I enjoyed… Read More
And so PG was probably the spark for the Zoo Society’s growth of the board of directors. And she brought on a whole wonderful group of people. One of the neighbors across the street from the zoo on Lake View in Fullerton was a man named Daggett Harvey of the… Read More
Who made the biggest impression on you, the most famous, or how did they impact the zoo?… Read More
One of the joys, I guess, that I had in Chicago once I took the zoo job was that I became part of the Chicago community in the broadest sense. And one of the satisfactions of my job was interacting with the Chicago community. The zoo is kind of one… Read More
So I think there was an area of an undertone of resentment between the curatorial staffs in the country of the biology people and the medical people, the veterinarians. Fortunately, I guess, it resolved somehow comfortably and the biologists retain the great majority of the administrative positions, and the vets… Read More
His father had been a pathologist at Ohio State University. And Len became director at the Cleveland Zoo, and so he was a friend and a colleague. And there was a man down in Florida, Gordon Hubbell was another veterinarian who became a zoo director down there. And in fact,… Read More
My contacts with the other professionals in the zoo world were, of course, primarily through the meetings. George Rabb and I were solid here in the Chicago area. And eventually George Speidel went out from Brookfield to Milwaukee, and started a whole new wonderful zoo out there in the edge… Read More
You’re drawing a blank. Charlie, anyway, it’ll come to me. But the director of the San Diego Zoo was a veterinarian. And he had been a part-time zoo doctor, and he worked, I think for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and ended up being a director there at San Diego. And he became… Read More
And who if any of them had influence on you?… Read More