The front page of the Life Section (1D) of the Monday, May 14 edition of USA Today -- the most widely distributed newspaper in the US -- has a story about Bob Barker. The piece, by William Keck, is headed, "The time is right for Barker; 'Price Is Right' host retiring after 50 years in TV game."
The tender article tells us tales from Barker's decades as the host of The Price is Right, and also about his marriage. Then a section headed, "For the love of dogs" discusses his animal rights activism. We read about the rabbits who scamper around the upstairs of his house, and the ducks who live in his swimming pool, "who seem to know this home offers sanctuary."
We read:
"'The ducks have been coming for years,' he says, opening the doors to an immaculate green lawn with the Hollywood Hills in the background. 'Last year, one went behind the shrubbery, built a nest and had 13 babies. Those babies learned to swim, forage in the yard, and we watched them learn to fly. My housekeeper and I would cut food for them and prepare a little buffet. It was a wonderful experience to watch them grow up and fly away one or two at a time.'"
And we learn:
"Because he and Dorothy Jo 'never got around' to having children of their own, animals will be the chief beneficiaries of his multimillion-dollar estate. His DJ&T Foundation (named after Dorothy Jo and his mother, Tilly) offers grants to spay/neutering clinics in all 50 states."
He is also helping law schools: "His endowment for animal rights law is already in place at Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA and Stanford."
You'll find the whole article on line at http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-05-13-bob-barker_N.htm
It presents a great opportunity for appreciative animal friendly letters to the editor, which would surely please Bob Barker.
USA Today takes letters at http://tinyurl.com/cee7y
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
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Date: Mon May 14 20:51:15 2007
