Join us at The Walden Woods Project, as part of The Concord Festival of Authors, for a presentation from best-selling author Vicki Croke!
About Vicki Croke:
Vicki Croke is one of the country’s leading nature journalists, covering animal life—with a particular focus on the deep friendships between humans and other creatures—in her best-selling books, newspaper and magazine articles, and for National Public Radio. She is the author of The New York Times bestseller Elephant Company and her book The Lady and the Panda was optioned for film. Croke’s first book, praised by her hero, Jane Goodall, is The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos—Past, Present and Future.
A former news writer for CNN, Croke wrote The Boston Globe’s “Animal Beat” column for thirteen years. Her reporting has appeared in a wide variety of publications and on-air productions, including Discover Magazine, The London Sunday Telegraph, Gourmet Magazine, and NPR. She worked on a TV series pilot for Disney, appeared as an animal expert on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and was a consultant and on-air expert for Primal Contact, a two-hour documentary about gorillas for A&E. She’s been honored for her on-air reporting at WBUR, where her story on elephants earned both an Edward R. Murrow Award and a PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors Inc.) Award. Her work has also been recognized with honors from the humane organization MSPCA.
She is currently a Faculty Fellow at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Animals and Public Policy. Traveling extensively, she has reported from the field writing stories about elephants, polar bears, lions, owls, bald eagles, Tasmanian devils, and Madagascar’s top predator, the fossa, among many others. Find out more about Vicki at https://vickicroke.com/.
About the presentation:
With archival photos and film of elephants from World War II, Vicki Croke will tell the true story of ELEPHANT COMPANY:
In 1920, Billy Williams came to colonial Burma as a “forest man” for a British teak company. Mesmerized by the intelligence and character of the great animals who hauled logs through the jungle, he became a gifted “elephant wallah,” seeing remarkable abilities and emotions and ways of communicating among these elephants that field biologists would confirm decades later. In living with these animals day after day and fighting for their humane care, he came to realize that through their lessons in courage, trust, and gratitude, they had taught him to be a better man. His “teachers” included Bandoola, the magnificent tusker, who would lead refugees to safety; the young male eventually named Guide Man who faithfully help his blind mother; and Ma Chaw, or “Miss Smooth,” who knew how to ask Williams for medical care. It is a timeless story of compassion, heroism, and love.
When: October 24, 6:15-8:00 pm EST.
Where: The Walden Woods Project (address provided upon registration)
Doors will open at 6:15 pm for a wine and cheese reception. The presentation will begin at 7:00 pm.
