Denice Heatherly—co-founder of Music City Animal Advocates, a non-profit organization whose stated goal is “to create an animal-saving culture in greater Nashville and surrounding counties” —describes her formative years, when her grandmother was a serious animal...
Stacy LeBaron—a veteran animal welfare advocate (felines, in particular) who hosts The Community Cats Podcast—recalls her first memory of a cat…who happened to be named Duncan! Still, she allows that her powerful passion for cats was cultivated cumulatively; over...
Kim Skrovanek—founder of The Humane Education Connection—recounts growing up as a passionate animal lover, tending to all the sick and injured animals that she spotted in her North Florida neighborhood. (“Yes, I was that kid.”). That passion, Skrovanek explains,...
Alison Eastwood —the actress, director and animal advocate whose Eastwood Ranch Foundation recently launched FosterFurkids.com, a website that connects rescue groups and animal shelters with a nationwide network of pet fosters and transporters—discusses a childhood...
Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon—the husband-wife team who wrote the screenplay for A Dog’s Purpose, a film starring Dennis Quaid, based on Cameron’s bestselling novel of the same name—discuss how the book has yet again become a New York Times bestseller (this...
Sarah Baeckler Davis—a primatologist and lawyer who is president and CEO of Project Chimps, a relatively new chimpanzee sanctuary in Northern Georgia—discusses how, at eight years old, reading a book about Jane Goodall absolutely fascinated her, and she decided...
Tippi Hedren—the actress and longtime animal advocate, who recently published her memoir, “Tippi: A Memoir”—discusses Shambala Preserve, her sanctuary for rescued lions, tigers and other big cats that she established in 1972, and where Hedren, now 86 years old,...
Luan Dean—the Director of Mission Advancement at SPCA Tampa Bay—explains the scope of her duties at the organization, which began in 1940, while describing the work undertaken there in the earliest days, some 70 years ago. Dean also briefly traces SPCA Tampa Bay’s...
Dr. Lisa Kemmerer—a professor of philosophy and religions at Montana State University Billings, who has written and/or edited none books—discusses her unusual, stop-start path as an academic, including what drew her to Harvard Divinity School, where she earned her...
Steve Jenkins—co-author, with Derek Walter and Caprice Crane, of “Esther The Wonder Pig: Changing The World One Heart At A Time”—discusses how Esther entered his and Walter’s world: He got duped into adopting her when she was a baby, having been told she was a...
