And momentarily I was in trouble, I was able to brace my foot against the front of the cage. And as I recall it, I think I yelled and one of the keepers was within shouting distance, and he came and somehow helped distract the animal and it let go,… Read More
Did you have any dangerous situations that you would Marlin, as a part-time vet had to deal with in that kind of respect?… Read More
I don’t think I ever had a dangerous situation that I can recall in the years that Marlin was there, and I worked around the collection. We had dangerous animals to work with, but I was never in a position, in the Old Cat House and the Lion Hose, when… Read More
So I guess I would have to say that Bushman was a animal that was an important part of my early life. I can look back on night calls to the Old Monkey House two, three in the morning that I’d have to go there to look at some sick… Read More
I think Bushman was certainly, early on in my zoo career, the number one patient that I got involved with because of his fame and his stature, he was physically an exciting animal. If he wanted to come and move in his cage from the back toward the front, and… Read More
And therefore, if they had some animals and the swans are animals, they might’ve been considered a zoo before we were, I don’t know what the collection was at Central Park at that moment, and maybe it was just the birds. But that’s at least when we say our collection… Read More
You mentioned Bushman, was he your most important patient, your biggest challenge?… Read More
And then we try to give some medicine and food or threw some liquid and hope that he would come to the front of the cage and take the food and the medicine. I think that at the north end of the zoo, we had an old barn that was… Read More
At the time that I was first involved with the zoo, I never thought too much about the fact that they were in barred cages, the Monkey House, the Lion Hose, it was just accepted, I guess, that was the way it was. And the buildings looked architecturally sound. I… Read More
Early on during my years we, of course, were fortunate to have an incredible creature, a lowland gorilla named Bushman at Lincoln Park Zoo in the Old Monkey House. And Bushman was one of two gorillas of his era back in the 30s and 40s that were in America. Ringling… Read More
The people, the exhibits when you started working there, the size of the zoo, what were those impressions as you were the veterinarian?… Read More
Well, at the time I thought the zoo was a very exciting kind of place, it was full of strange and wondrous creatures. It was staffed by a group of personalities. The people that worked at Lincoln Park Zoo were a cross section of animal lovers. There were some people… Read More
What was the zoo like during this time?… Read More
And he knew the area that he was very interested in, so Marlin and I had nothing but a comfortable working relationship. And as I say, I’ve been grateful to him for that opportunity to meet many, many wonderful people in the TV industry. And to this day, I felt… Read More
So the Perkins family have been very important in my life, and I was saddened when Marlin died of cancer. And as I say, I’m sorry to know that she is now potentially, medically in big trouble. Read More
And I said, “Sure.” And so then I think two or three times a year, we would do an animal health show on “Zoo Parade.” And that’s how I got into television, I guess, and looking back. And so Marlin he was full of himself. After all, he became a… Read More
Marlin Perkins was a very interesting man for me to get to know, he was certainly a showman in personality. Marlin was a very dapper, well-dressed, very articulate person. He and I hit it off fairly well because he didn’t try to interfere with my medical decisions, he didn’t try… Read More
All the big early shows, I think, originated here. And thanks to Marlin, I got to meet all the different personalities in the Chicago TV scene. And of course, that’s how Marlin became Mr. Television himself. The story is that WBKB, the old ABC Channel I think it is, that… Read More
Well, you mentioned Marlin that you started working with, what was your first impression of Marlin Perkins?… Read More
So it was very much a learning experience. First of all, learning about the wild animals and secondly, how to try to handle them, how to work with them. Read More