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BOOK: Tall Blondes–A Book About Giraffes
AUTHOR: Lynn Sherr
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1997
REVIEW:
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Some years ago, I had occasion to stay at the Hotel Giraffe in New York City, and in my room was a copy of Tall Blondes: A Book About Giraffes. I flipped through it, interested, but didn’t have time to read it in my brief stay. Intrigued, I bought a copy after I got home. Easily distracted, I forgot all about it, until this week, when, in a fit of organization (don’t worry, it will surely be temporary), I found it again and actually sat down with it.
***
Tall Blondes is a charming book, written by journalist Lynn Sherr (a tall blonde herself). It’s less a field guide or serious nature study than a cultural history of the beast, and it’s filled with interesting facts, literary quotations, artistic renderings (from prehistoric rock and cave artists through Gary Larson), and descriptions of famous giraffes in history. (Giraffe diplomacy, much like China’s current panda diplomacy, has a long history as a form of soft power, and we humans have been excited to be in the presence of these majestic animals since time immemorial Some examples: Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut authorized a successful expedition in search of the animal around 1500 BC. Julius Caesar brought one to Rome in 46 BC. And the Ringling Bros. advertised “the last giraffe secured at the cost of a fortune…the only giraffe now known to exist in the world,” adding, “When he is gone the giraffe will be extinct. Human eyes will never behold another,” in 1901.)
***
I’ve admired giraffes in the Bronx Zoo (NYC), in the Toronga Zoo (Sydney), and in the Animal Kingdom Park of Disney World, but this book left me with a desire to see them on safari, or perhaps at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. Someday, on the other side of this pandemic, I hope to. Until then, Tall Blondes will have to do.
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RATING (one to five whistles, with five being the best): 3 Whistles
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HOW TO PURCHASE: Amazon
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Laura LaVelle is an attorney and writer who lives in Connecticut, in a 100-year-old house, along with her husband, two daughters, and a cockatiel. Laura can be contacted at laura@newswhistle.com
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Photo by Judah Legge on Unsplash – Kruger National Park, South Africa – A note from the photographer: “I met this dude on safari in Kruger National park in northern South Africa. The giraffes were easily in my favorite creatures to witness. They seemed almost prehistoric the the way the graced the African plain.”
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