The author of one of my favourite childhood books was born on this day (7 January) in 1925 in Jamshedpur, British India, his book My Family and Other Animals is a book I must have read over twenty times and his childhood spent on the island of Corfu, surrounded by wildlife and a slightly bonkers family is something I’ve always envied.
Gerald Durrell was an English naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author, and television presenter. He founded what is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo (now Durrell Wildlife Park) on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1958 and his books introduced many readers to the wonders of wildlife.
I have chosen ten of my favourite quotes to celebrate a wonderful author’s birth.
“My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.”
“A house is not a home until it has a dog.”
“Who was it who said, “If you can control your family, you’ve gone terribly wrong somewhere”?”
“I do wish you wouldn’t argue with me when I’m knitting.”
“’All we need is a book,’ roared Leslie; ‘don’t panic, hit ’em with a book.”
“I can’t be expected to produce deathless prose in an atmosphere of gloom and eucalyptus.”
“There is no first world and third world. There is only one world, for all of us to live and delight in.”
“A sparrow can be as interesting as a bird of paradise, the behaviour of a mouse as interesting as that of a tiger. Our planet is beautifully intricate, brimming over with enigmas to be solved and riddles to be unravelled.”
“The attitude of the average person to the world they live in is completely selfish.“
“ Anyone who has got any pleasure at all from living should try to put something back. Life is like a superlative meal and the world is the maître d’hôtel. What I am doing is the equivalent of leaving a reasonable tip.”
A life dedicated to the care and conservation of our flora and fauna can’t be a bad thing can it; it certainly gave Gerald Durrell plenty of material for his memoirs.
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Have loved Gerald Durrels books since I read My family and other animals. Have 7 of his books being reread and reread.