One day I was walking my employer’s dog in the city hall grounds. I worked Downtown Columbus and my neighbor Earl Davis, the director of the zoo saw me walking the dog. So he came home and asked Don, his son, “Do you think that kid would like to work… Read More
What was the kind of job they started you out?… Read More
(faintly speaking) Okay. What kind of jobs did they start you out at the zoo?… Read More
I don’t suppose I ever remembered going to the Columbus Zoo before the day I walked in on my first day on the job. Read More
Now, kind of let’s back up and how did that first day on the job even happen?… Read More
Well, I have to go back to a time where I was raised in Columbus and that was in the Italian community near north side of Columbus. And at the time that it was, right after the Depression, my father and mother said, “We’ve gotta get out of this living… Read More
My name is Louis Roman, you didn’t know that, (laughs) DiSabato. I was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 and lived there about 30 years before moving on to other places. Read More
What were some of your early memories in Columbus about animals?… Read More
Well, my family was really an animal loving family, as well as being hunters and fishermen. So I got a very early start being able to go out with my uncles and my father and my grandfather to not only hunt animals, but to use them for food and to… Read More
So, you were involved with kind of native animals, but how did you start getting, did you go to the zoo as a kid in Columbus?… Read More
Well, probably because of my family, you know, I got brothers and sisters or not sisters, but sister-in-laws and my present family, I just became a grandfather. I could never believe that I would end up with a grandchild, but she’s a real keeper. And those are the things that… Read More
This is a little bit of hindsight. But like I say, I think that life is such a incredible thing to try to figure it all out. I’m still very fascinated about, I think about it all the time about how we got here and what the universe is all… Read More
That’s pretty interesting. I guess it’s… There are other people that have been leaders in this profession that really have. There are people long before me. I think that we’re lecturing. (laughs) Melissa and Martin Johnson. They used to go around and lecturing all over the world. And somebody sent… Read More
Don’t get me wrong. Osa and Martin Johnson were very involved in the Chautauqua circus. They used to have long ago before radio and television. They used to have get-togethers they call Chautauquas. And they would all get together and bring a speaker in. But yeah, there used to be… Read More
Then he would set a trigger down here at 60 feet away with a net and the leopard would come up and get near the bait and triggered. And the cat would go zooming up to the top of the tree in a net. These are amazing things they used… Read More
How would you like to be remembered?… Read More
I brought out the ones that reflected human emotions. And he was taken by it. But some of those people believe me are very disconnected from anything that’s natural. Urban people often that have some of the talk shows. Now, in soming up here, I got two questions. Read More
What do you know about the profession that you have devoted so many years of your life?… Read More
No, the question is, what do I know about my profession?… Read More
It’s a black background and you’re sitting at a table. Well, I had some apples cut up and these were sitting right in front of me. The first thing I knew, Charlie Rose was extremely enthralled. He’d never seen anything like it. So he was giving these pieces of apple… Read More