I did a ZooChat search on this title and found nothing, so I do not think I am making a duplicate post. (If so, please forgive).
I just finished reading My Marwellous Life, written by the founder of Marwell Wildlife, John Knowles. It is truly one of the most enjoyable reads I have had. It is not "deep," it is not "life-changing," it is just a fun little read. I honestly hated to come to the end; at just under 200 pages, I wish it was 400.
The book tells of his founding of Marwell, using money from an extremely successful large-scale chicken farming business. (Successful to the extent that he bought himself a Rolls Royce, although he later sold it to buy some Grevys zebras for Marwell). John Knowles comes across as a straight-talking, no nonsense guy with a lot of common sense and proper suspicion of people who prefer fancy titles and university business philosophies. (As one example, he prefers the title zoo director to the increasing use of more pompous titles like CEO).
ZooChatters - especially Britons (but really everyone) - will love this book. That is because he writes not only about the animals, but also quite a bit about the business of zoos as well as the (mostly positive) changes in the zoo world. From the establishment of the Zoo Licensing Act (of which he had an integral role) to the founding of ISIS and WAZA, this is true fodder for Zoo Geeks. All written in everyday language that even non-zoo folks can appreciate. For those of you who desire to start your own zoo, this is a MUST read. But really, I think any regular on this forum will thoroughly enjoy it.
I just finished reading My Marwellous Life, written by the founder of Marwell Wildlife, John Knowles. It is truly one of the most enjoyable reads I have had. It is not "deep," it is not "life-changing," it is just a fun little read. I honestly hated to come to the end; at just under 200 pages, I wish it was 400.
The book tells of his founding of Marwell, using money from an extremely successful large-scale chicken farming business. (Successful to the extent that he bought himself a Rolls Royce, although he later sold it to buy some Grevys zebras for Marwell). John Knowles comes across as a straight-talking, no nonsense guy with a lot of common sense and proper suspicion of people who prefer fancy titles and university business philosophies. (As one example, he prefers the title zoo director to the increasing use of more pompous titles like CEO).
ZooChatters - especially Britons (but really everyone) - will love this book. That is because he writes not only about the animals, but also quite a bit about the business of zoos as well as the (mostly positive) changes in the zoo world. From the establishment of the Zoo Licensing Act (of which he had an integral role) to the founding of ISIS and WAZA, this is true fodder for Zoo Geeks. All written in everyday language that even non-zoo folks can appreciate. For those of you who desire to start your own zoo, this is a MUST read. But really, I think any regular on this forum will thoroughly enjoy it.
