Do you think it was a big success because you could bring in and did bring in Jimmy Stewart, Betty White, Marlon Perkins, Amanda, you brought these people in or did they just naturally want to come to this?… Read More
And did you have any strategies that you were implementing to try and promote the zoo?… Read More
The secret to fundraising is getting people who know people to go and do the asking, not the professional person. So it was identify peers or people that would have influence with other people to go and make the ask, so to speak. That’s not novel our zoo that’s novel,… Read More
We still maintained and wanted to keep the endangered theme. But on the other hand, we realized that there was more to it than that. And the fact that we were more and more dependent upon our gate, that we had to do things, maybe have some things that were… Read More
How comfortable were you with in this new role?… Read More
And what was it under you?… Read More
And so being a tough old boot that he was, he ran over and smacked the polar bear in the nose, and the polar bear went back into the pool and he went around behind and pulled the plug and lowered the water level so they couldn’t get out. So… Read More
When you became director, did this mission change or was it modified?… Read More
I mentioned earlier, I disagreed with Dr. Thomas about keeping apes behind water barriers behind using that as a barrier to keep them in. And so we made that a priority. We converted a sea line exhibit into a gorilla exhibit, which was one of the first things we had… Read More
And on two different occasions, we had keepers forget to turn the water off. They would clean the pool. They would turn the water on. It’d be late in the day and they’d leave the water running. It’d be dark. No one would realize it. The water level would realize… Read More
When you came in as director, did you have top items that you wanted to address or enhance that you were had been thinking about or saw that needed to be addressed within the organization or procedures or items like that?… Read More
I mean, it’s a very narrow scope of the overall zoo management. You have to get into then behavior into nutrition, which is also part of veterinary medicine. But you have to be aware of the fundraising of the political workings, HR, human resources, working with people, working with boards,… Read More
And the fact that you can talk with them on a professional level helps build your credibility as an animal person with maybe the people. And it may have nothing to do with fundraising per se, but in the long run, it helps you develop a rapport. Read More
How do the various systems in an animal work, what disease processes do you have to be aware of?… Read More
Now you talked about earlier that you, you thought you wanted to be a director, ultimately, when you did become director, how did that veterinary training prove useful to you as a director?… Read More
Well, the veterinary training is very, very technical, nuts and bolts. Read More
So I was over there when Gladys Porter passed. So it was quite a shock and to come back and then two years later to have this foundation split and then two years after that to start to become talking in the endowment. So yeah, we switched from heavily being… Read More
How did that affect you and your responsibilities as director?… Read More
It took a lot of time and it took time away from what I thought I should be doing. In 1979 and ’80, I was president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which we now call the AZA. I was also president of our local rotary club that year. Read More
How did that affect?… Read More