Names
& their Puppy Portraits
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Moving right along... in the 1960s, no name was better associated with the study of and conservation of Madagascar's highly endangered primates than France's Jean-Jacques Petter. Dr. Petter, originally trained as a medical doctor, opened up the island to field work on the lemurs. He was a star of the University of Paris' division of Ethology and Ecology and he established a major lemur colony in 17th and 18th Century restored mansions near Paris in a picturesque village called "Brunoy." I was privileged to spend time there lost in discussions with the young and enthusiastic staff of scientists. We would watch lemurs cavort in elegant rooms and we'd discuss science under shade trees by a lake graced with swans, all the while sipping fine wine and eating Brie. Ah, the French really know how to make science a pleasure! So greet Professor Petter's namesake, Christie's handsome second-born Tri-color male puppy... J.-J. |
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Without any question the "grande dame" of all Madagascar lemur field studies and conservation efforts must be my tireless colleague, Professor Alison Jolly. Dr. Jolly has written many popular books promoting an understanding of the people and wildlife of Madagascar. Dr. Jolly is now a respected prof at Princeton University. Years ago she was at Yale University as the student of the man who became my major professor for a while at Duke, the notorious John Buettner-Janusch. John's flamboyant, fabulously successful and unbelievably felonious life, then tragic death at his own hand, is the stuff novels are made of... maybe non-fiction book two is called for. Hmmmm. But I digress. Here's the lovely, coquettish, impish little White Coton de Tulear we call Alison of Alika Cotons now:
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When in Madagascar, I had a long-distance major falling out with the notorious John Buettner-Janusch. Fortunately, Duke University Professor Matt Cartmill, an outstanding authority on the anatomy and evolution of the base of the human family tree, became my "major professor." Matt was (and is) a fastidious scholar. He is always poised to cross every "T" and dot every "I" and even double dot every umlaut. For a hobby, Dr. Cartmill inexplicably took up learning Welsh, a language even the Welsh are giving up due to its complexity. In those Salad days of the 70s, Matt resembled a cross between a dapper young Charles Darwin and Dr. Nigel Craine, Frasier Craine's brother on the late TV series "Frasier." I can still see Matt rolling his eyes back towards his occipital cortex at the sound of a misplaced metaphor. Remarkably, our Coton de Tulear Matt, Christie's sixth born, is a real tail wagging extrovert who would be just as happy to chew on a dangling participle as he would eat a dog bone...
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