What a great afternoon! Thanks, Gary!

 

Gary Clarke’s “Untold Tails of the Zoo” brought a standing-room-only crowd to the Marvin Auditorium.  Gary shared some of the stories from his new book, “Hey Mister – Your Alligator’s Loose!”  Phil Grecian introduced him, with an article he’d written some time ago (included as a forward in the book.)     

Former Zoo Docent Evie Green led the crowd in a rousing song about the zoo.

Librarian Jeff Imparato (second only to Gary in the groan factor of his puns) read the poem he’d written when Gary retired from the zoo.

And Gary kept us laughing with the stories that he never told while he was zoo director – when Twika the giraffe got out of its enclosure, for instance, or when Max suddenly got shy at the opening of the Gorilla Encounter. 

Gary’s book is a fun read. One of the things he keeps talking about is how much support the World Famous Topeka Zoo got from Topeka. He said, “I didn’t do all this. YOU did all this. With all the support and help you gave to the zoo over the years, YOU built the World Famous Topeka Zoo.”

Gary will continue to make appearances around Topeka – his next one is Friday, August 21, 2009 from 11:30am – 4:30pm at
Lloyd Zimmer’s Book Shop, 117 SW 6^th Ave, 354-8899.

Thanks to Mark Boranyak for sharing his photographs of the talk!