Thomas Miller | Sept. 26, 2010
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| Photo by Thomas Miller |
| Tom French signed copies of Zoo Story Friday at the Ernie Pyle auditorium. He also talked to the audience about the evolution of the book. |
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“When I started hanging out there, it was easy,” French said about his six years, off-and-on, covering the zoo. “I fell in love with these animals very quickly.”
Those stories became the basis for his new book, Zoo Story, published earlier this year. French, BA ’81 and current Riley Endowed Chair in journalism, spent the summer on a book tour that included interviews with NPR and Stephen Colbert, but Friday, he talked about the writing experience and signed books for a crowd in the Ernie Pyle Hall auditorium.
He discussed the themes of freedom and identity that permeate the book. French said one of the major struggles in writing the book was accurately reporting on animals, something that required hours of research and discussion with experts in animal communication and behavior.
He started covering the story for the St. Petersburg Times, writing about zoo administrators’ efforts to turn the facility around from a small park to a quality zoo. He recounted the stories of two animals in particular: Herman, a chimpanzee who had been treated like a human in his time before he arrived at the zoo, and Enshalla, a female Sumatran tiger with a wild personality.
French described how Herman’s ability to entertain visitors by blowing kisses or flirting helped him stay alive during his time at what French called one of the worst zoos in the country. He said animals were killed by visitors throwing razor blades and shooting arrows into cages. Herman’s skills as an entertainer helped him survive, but it left him confused, French said.
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| Photo by Thomas Miller |
| French spent several years reporting on the zoo for the St. Petersburg Times, then compiled much of the information into the new book. |
Despite telling the sometimes harrowing stories of these animals, French said he was ambivalent about the role of zoos in society.
“I deliberately didn’t write the book to be an attack or defense of zoos,” French said. “The zoos are always more a reflection of us than the animals.”
And, he said people who work at zoos are well aware of the moral complexities of their situation. Zoos could serve as an arc to help ensure the survival of animals whose existence is threatened in the wild, he said, and pointed to conservation programs that help rehabilitate animals and return them to the wild as a good example. But it remains a struggle for zoos to balance conservation with commerce, he said.
French has tackled tough subjects during his two decades of reporting at the St. Petersburg Times, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting and honed his craft in narrative storytelling.
At the School of Journalism, he has taught narrative writing, sharing with his students his own experiences while giving them guidance. When he started his teaching career last year, French had yet to finish Zoo Story, which gave his students a unique opportunity to be involved with the project.
“We all really want to be supportive of him,” said senior Sarah Hutchins, who was a student in one of French’s first classes at IU. “We feel like we kind of went through it, too. We heard him explaining things and agonizing over what to cut. We’re all incredible proud and happy for him.”
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| Photo by Thomas Miller |
| French completed his book after starting his teaching career at IU. He often talked to students about his challenges in preparing the final version. |
“It’s a really holistic approach to education, where it’s not only what’s been happening in the classroom but also seeing how professors work,” she said.
French also talked about his book and signed copies for fellow alumni Saturday during a reunion of the Student Publications Alumni Association, a group of alumni who have experience working on IU publications. French is a former editor-in-chief of the Indiana Daily Student.
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