| 'Here, Keller-Train
This' was the sign on top of the crate. Inside was a full-grown
mountain lion - a present from a friend who knew of Keller's love of
animals. A college professor of visual arts at the time, Keller
accepted the challenge and trained the lion in his garage. He
acquired more animals, and the courage to face them in the ring. For
a number of years he trained wild animals as a hobby and was a
semi-professional performer at summer carnivals and small circuses
while continuing to teach in the winter.
As Keller's success as a part-time
trainer grew, so did his desire to escape the routine life he had
led for years. He was looking for freedom, and in his mind animals
were always associated with freedom. At the age of 51, George Keller
made a complete break to become a full-time animal trainer. At last
he was no longer a "college professor on the outside, showman on the
inside."
His new life greeted him with
financial difficulties, a hurricane, a mauling by a tiger and
near-death while performing a part of his act in which he put his
head in a lion's mouth. Keller's knowledge of animal behaviour was
phenomenal and his skill and showmanship earned him wide and
deserved popularity.
Here is the personal account of a
man who recognized his own calling and had the courage to pursue his
bent in the face of opposition from conventional society-a man who
dared to fulfil his boyhood dream.
Condition: 190 pages, b/w
photographic plates throughout. Original dust jacket very good, with
some general wear and minor tears at the top, and a little rubbing
to edges, not price-clipped. Hard-back binding, very good. Contents
clean and tight. A very good tight copy.
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