I can’t really tell that there were lessons. I just know I learned from them. I learned from everything that he mentioned, and one of the things about having a mentor like Earl Davis was he allowed me to make mistakes. He allowed me to make mistakes or give an… Read More
What kind of qualities would you say made him this good or excellent zoo director?… Read More
Oh yes. International press, zoo directors from all over the world wanted to come and see this first gorilla. So Earl must have been thrilled and happy as you probably were for this first birth. He was– Earl was, well, he was always famous because he was one of the… Read More
Now you mentioned that Earl was your mentor. Read More
How old?… Read More
56, I believe. I hope that’s right, because my son is the same age. Read More
International press on this?… Read More
I happened to become a father in 1956 as well. And my wife and I had a pediatrician and I immediately called the pediatrician and said, “Look, this baby gorilla is born. No one knows what baby gorillas should be fed. What do you think?” He came out and he… Read More
This was all occurring at the zoo?… Read More
Big crowds coming to the zoo?… Read More
Big crowds started immediately and they continued. And the zoo, I think that was the turning point for Columbus Zoo in terms of popularity in the community. It was always popular, but it was a place where you go for a day’s outing because it was 16 miles from town… Read More
Who did you seek help from?… Read More
This is a first. Read More
Who are you reaching out to to find out about how to raise a baby gorilla?… Read More
They were very excited. The people, of course the newspapers and television were very excited about this because it was the first. In fact, Dave Garroway, some people may remember Dave as the premier person on television for news and early morning in those days. And he arranged to come… Read More
What do I do?… Read More
I need some kind of a nursery, an exhibit space too where the visitors could see this baby without interfering with the raising of it, but still being able to see it. And the city, the city operated the zoo. They immediately started building an animal nursery onto the great… Read More
By the way, a baby gorilla at that time weighed four and a quarter pounds. So we immediately found the nearest thing to a bassinet that we could put it in with a bunch of scrap dust cloths. And there was a cardboard box. And so that’s how the first… Read More
You immediately called the director of the zoo?… Read More
Oh yes. Earl Davis came over immediately, right after we came over. Earl was great for taking pictures, so he immediately started taking pictures. And as I look at those pictures, I think, God, what a fabulous thing that happened to us. People were excited. They were crying. Read More