Read it or Weep

In September 1938 a hurricane ripped through the East Coast. This is the story of two young giraffes that crossed the Atlantic in shipping crates and survived the storm. Their eventual destination would be the San Diego Zoo where Belle Benchley was the zoo’s director. The trip to California would be a twelve-day road trip and the person telling their story is the rig’s driver, Woodrow (Woody) Wilson Nickle. (Woody was a dustbowl orphan from the Texas panhandle.) Now at 105 years old Woody, who is living in a VA nursing home, is writing down the adventures before it is too late.

The trip cross country made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. The trip was dangerous at times. The roads and the weather were often rough. A couple of times different people tried to steal the giraffes. The “Old Man” who oversaw the giraffes and was employed by the Zoo named them “Boy” and “Girl”.

This is a witty, charming, heartwarming, not to-be-forgotten tale

~Emma