Posted on 12/06/2008 11:28:01 PM PST by Lmo56
He had the chance to write the biography of Cheeta, known as the world's oldest and most famous chimp. But his research led him into serious monkey business.
... But one oft-repeated fact about the chimp's life nagged at me. It was one of the standard stories in Cheeta's biography -- repeated in Newsweek and other magazines, recited by Cheeta's current owner and many Cheeta admirers -- that the first of his two owners, animal trainer Tony Gentry, had gotten him in Liberia as a baby and smuggled him under his overcoat aboard a Pan Am flight home in 1932. During the long flight, the diapered Cheeta escaped from under Gentry's coat, mischievously scampered up and down the aisle, and had to be subdued by hysterical stewardesses with a bottle of warm milk.
After four months of research and writing, I decided to ask a question that, in retrospect, was so obvious that it was curious that no journalist before me had bothered to ask it: In 1932, were there any transatlantic flights for Gentry to smuggle Cheeta onto? The answer, I wasn't surprised to learn, was no. Transatlantic commercial airline service wasn't inaugurated until 1939.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Alas, the truth again rears one of its ugly heads. A colorful yarn has more life than a trite reality.
Now THAT was one interesting yarn! I applaud the author’s persistence and his honesty. Yes, I’d trust him to write an expose’ on all those knotty little issues you mentioned!
What a great article! Thanks for posting — Bookmarked.
A disappointing tale of the tawdriness of the Human Condition. The only Good Guy in the story is the Journalist who applies his Ethics and gets left holding the bag. A fantastic tragedy.
I just finished reading Cheetah’s “bio”, which was given to me as a gift. i would never have bought it of my own volition, which shows how silly I can be.
This is a terrific book. Funny as all get-out and the bit where he meets Johnny W. again after decades apart is so touching I would have had a little cry if I wasn’t such a big tough hunk of maleness.
The “escape” story actually involves a black mamba and it’s on the tramp steamer bringing Cheetah and his mates across the Atlantic. It’s just as funny and enjoys, apparently, the advantage of being true.
The book is also a really sharp satire of Hollywoodf bios. For example, cheetah always starts off by saying something nice about his co-stars, then gets increasingly bitchy — Rex Harrison “cruel and impotent”. Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney and piles of other Tinseltowners are get really massive serves.
It is one of the best books I have read all year — and it is beautifully written. Buy it as a Christmas present for your missus, then “borrow” it back straight away.
No kidding. fantastic, funny book.
Cheetah, by the way, would make a much smarter veep than Plugs Biden, even when the ape is drunk, which was often.
er, just that washPo story.... and maybe it doesn’t have the benefit of being true.
Still a very funny book, though.
Perhaps the chimp was actually born in Hawaii, and they simply made up this story to bolster his "African-born" credentials?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.