The Lady and the Panda

by Vicki Croke

  255 The zoo's slight Robert Bean to Harkness, 13 Apr. 1938; and “Pandas Galore,” Time, 11 Apr. 1938.

  256 “turned cold” Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  256 On previous occasions Harkness to Robert Bean, 7 Mar. 1938.

  256 Now she became Harkness to Edward Bean, 3 May 1938.

  256 “the very nature of pandas” Edward Bean to Harkness, 14 Apr. 1938.

  256 The zoo had “Pandas Galore.” Time, 11 Apr. 1938.

  256 At a luncheon “Mrs. Harkness to Hunt Panda,” New York Times, 13 Apr. 1938, p. 27.

  256 She was playing her cards Young's May cable telling her that he had two pandas for her had to have been part of an already settled arrangement.

  257 The Bronx Zoo “Panda on Way to U.S.,” New York Times, 20 May 1938; and “1st Giant Panda in City Destined for Bronx Zoo,” New York Herald Tribune, 22 May 1938.

  257 The animal, named Pandora “City's First Panda Due Here Friday,” New York Times, 7 June 1938; and “The Latest Panda News,” China Journal, “Scientific Notes and Reviews” July 1938, p. 60.

  257 After all the wrangling New York Times, 7 June 1938.

  257 a bargain-basement price Pierce to Perkins, sometime in 1938.

  257 Simultaneously “Giant Panda Imports Look Up; Bronx May See Five at a Time,” New York Herald Tribune, 5 June 1938.

  257 Though there would be “Mrs. Harkness Relates Adventure; Temperamental Panda Is Returned to Native Mountains by Explorer,” China Press, 28 July 1938. The death of this little male is also mentioned in a letter from Harkness to Pierce on 16 June 1938.

  257 Her pandas were Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 25 May 1938, from aboard the China Clipper.

  257 Even her spirits Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 25 May 1938.

  CHAPTER 14: THE BACK OF BEYOND

  259 From behind the great Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  259 A tame goose Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  259 She could take a sip Ibid.

  260 From the theater Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  260 “a certain peace” Harkness to Perkins, 10 and 22 June 1938.

  260 The flooding Tuchman, Stillwell, p. 187; and Spence, Search for Modern China, pp. 424–25.

  260 Harkness had arrived Arrived in Hong Kong on 1 June 1938, and expected to fly to Chengdu on 3 June, according to “For Baby Panda; Mrs. Harkness Comes to Colony from US; On Third Visit,” South China Morning Post, 2 June 1938.

  260 He had promised Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  260 Together they cared Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  260 “high and mighty” Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  261 “the sort of companionship” Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  261 He still bristled Quentin Young, interview by Michael Kiefer, in “I Need Time to Recuperate,” San Diego Weekly Reader 19, no. 47 (29 Nov. 1990).

  261 After days shared Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  261 She thought she would Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938; and “For Baby Panda; Mrs. Harkness Comes.”

  263 But Harkness did not Hopkirk, Trespassers, p. 222.

  263 “Did she rub” Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  263 When Harkness Ibid.

  263 “Everything I owned” Ruth Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  263 It sliced up Harkness to Perkins, 10 June 1938.

  263 “This baby will” Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  263 She was a pistol Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  263 What she got into Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  263 “The vixen” Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  264 On rainy days Ibid.

  264 “little hellion” Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  264 Then Harkness Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  264 “I wish you could” Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  264 The houses Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  264 None of the talk Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  265 Without much luck “The Latest Panda News,” China Journal, “Scientific Notes and Reviews,” July 1938, p. 60.

  265 As soon as Harkness Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  265 Suffering from tuberculosis Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  265 a common therapy Colin Blakemore, The Oxford Companion to the Body (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 697.

  265 “I can't feel” Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  265 A legion of hunters Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  265 “He is simply” Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  265 She heard that on this trip Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938, says five; Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938, is updated to six.

  265 “He keeps them” Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

  265 He had such “The Latest Panda News,” China Journal, “Scientific Notes and Reviews,” July 1938, p. 60.

  266 Graham never killed Morris and Morris, Men and Pandas, pp. 54, 92–93.

  266 Young had told Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  266 A rare and not too “Live Giant Pandas Leave Hongkong for London,” China Journal, “Scientific Notes and Reviews,” Dec. 1938, p. 334.

  266 By April “China Bans Panda Hunting to Save Dwindling Species,” 25 Apr. 1939.

  266 The mercurial Madame Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

  266 “I hadn't been here” Ibid.

  267 Rather than roll Ibid.

  267 The United States was Tuchman, Stilwell, pp. 173, 175, 206.

  267 In Chengdu Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938. Perkins family has a photo of Harkness with the dog.

  267 Su-Sen, on the other hand Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  268 As for the practical Ibid.

  268 Air travel had Tuchman, Stilwell.

  268 Seats had to be booked Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938. Stilwell's experience agrees—in the fall, when he tried to get a reservation, he was told the next vacancy was in February, Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 197.

  268 Worse, the Chinese Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  268 Harkness wondered Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  269 “There seemed to be something” Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  269 “We made no sacrifice” Ibid.

  269 If there really were ghosts Ibid.

  270 Her chances of success Ibid.

  270 Just days earlier “Around the World in News, Science,” Washington Post, 26 June 1938.

  270 Harkness's intent Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938; and Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  271 “She too gets herself” Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

  271 The animal Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  271 Harkness was not worried Ibid.

  271 A bright, buzzing Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  271 “Publicity” Harkness to Perkins, 19 Dec. 1938.

  271 With bundles of incense Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  272 “Wang came wandering” Ibid.

  272 He had spent Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  272 With the liquor Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  272 In no time Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938.

  273 Summer was Schaller, Last Panda, pp. 77, 82.

  273 Harkness and Wang Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938; and Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  273 at an altitude Harkness to Perkins and Pierce, n.d. but about 10 July 1938. In travel club speech, 1939, she says 10,000 feet. Harkness to sister Helen from Jan. 1939, says 10,000 feet.

  273 She had gone Ruth Harkness, Pangoan Diary (New York: Creative Age Press, 1942), p. 6.

  273 “at the back of beyond” Ruth Harkness letter, not addressed to anyone but kept in the Hazel Perkins family archives.

  273 Their entire stay Harkness to home, Perkins family archives.

  273 “My one quilt” Harkness to Perkins and Pierce, n.d. but about 10 July 1938.

  274 She had
lost Ibid.

  274 Some mornings they Ruth Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” Gourmet, Mar. 1944, p. 10.

  274 She plunged Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938; and Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  274 “She wandered off” Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  274 It was a rare moment Ibid.

  274 “There we lived” Harkness, Pangoan Diary, p. 6.

  274 Each evening Harkness to Pierce, 8 July 1938; and Harkness to Perkins, 4 July 1938.

  275 She had to rush Harkness to home, Perkins family archives.

  275 Stumbling back Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  275 The two campers Harkness to home, Perkins family archives.

  275 “swearing a blue” Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  275 She hadn't been Ibid.

  276 Angry enough Harkness to home, Perkins family archives.

  276 Instead, he turned Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  276 “Wang still had” Ibid.

  276 With that settled Ibid.

  276 In the instant Ibid.

  276 “ran as fast” Harkness, Pangoan Diary, p. 6.

  277 Streams were so Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  EPILOGUE: SONG OF THE SOUL

  280 We were headed Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 21.

  281 Where she gratefully Ibid., p. 137.

  281 Yet her choices Spence, Search for Modern China, p. 425.

  281 ports, railroads, and big cities Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 195.

  282 Harkness watched Ristaino, Port of Last Resort, p. 103.

  282 She entered the hospital Harkness to Perkins, 9 Sept. 1938.

  282 Then with nothing to do Harkness to Perkins, 27 Aug. 1938.

  282 Toying with Harkness to Perkins, end of July 1938.

  282 had an intense Harkness to Perkins, 27 Aug. 1938.

  282 Fredi Guthmann I discovered his identity when author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson read the manuscript in New Zealand and led me to Natacha Guthmann, Fredi's widow, who confirmed the affair between the then-single Guthmann and Harkness.

  282 Darjeeling “The High Road in Sikkim,” New York Times, 30 Nov. 2003.

  282 “It is beautiful” Harkness to Perkins, 22 Nov. 1938.

  282 “For the first time” Ibid.

  282 In her hotel room Harkness to Perkins, 22 Nov. and 14 Dec. 1938.

  282 Restless Ruth Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  282 the 14,200-foot Sir Evan Nepean, obituary, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2002.

  282 “We passed caravan” Harkness, travel club speech, 1939.

  283 On her return Harkness to Perkins, 29 Dec. 1938.

  283 With renewed vigor Harkness to Perkins, 29 Dec. 1938, 14 Jan. 1939; and 5 Feb. 1939.

  283 Harkness would reach According to Harkness's letter to Perkins, 14 Jan. 1939, she would sail out of Liverpool on 16 Feb. 1939; “Five Giant Pandas at London Zoo,” Daily Mail, 23 Dec. 1938; “5 Pandas Loose in Linter,” London Daily Telegraph, 23 Dec. 1938; “Woman Risked Death from Bandits to Bring Rare Animal from China to Zoo,” London Evening Standard, 23 Dec. 1938, all from the Smith Papers, Library of Congress.

  283 She survived Floyd Tangier Smith, “Bringing Them Back Alive: How We Captured Giant Pandas,” Home and Empire, Feb. 1939; and “Rare Animals: Leaving by Antenor for England: Pandas for Zoos,” South China Morning Post, 14 Nov. 1938.

  284 Minus one panda “Woman Risked Death.”

  284 In mid-July “F. T. Smith,” Chicago Tribune, 14 July 1939; “Floyd T. Smith, Zoologist and Explorer Dies: Sent Several Giant Pandas to U.S. During Scientific Expeditions in Far East,” New York Herald Tribune, 14 July 1939, dateline Mastick, L.I., 13 July.

  284 The quick year Harkness, Pangoan Diary, pp. 3, 28.

  284 The world at large David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999); and Tuchman, Stilwell.

  284 The benched explorer Harkness to family, Jan. 1939.

  284 In the early fall “Program Seeks Funds for Chinese Civilians,” New York Times, 22 Oct. 1939.

  284 Using “The Alton Railroad” Harkness to Perkins, 4 Nov. 1939.

  284 Back home Harkness, Pangoan Diary, p. 3.

  285 In that frame Ibid., p. 2.

  285 On February 23 “Woman Explorer to Study the Incas,” New York Times, 24 Feb. 1940.

  285 In Lima From the online autobiography of Carl Ingman Aslakson, “Earth Measurer,” 1980, http://www.lib.noaa.gov/edocs/AslaksonBio.html.

  285 Harkness, the ultimate urbanite Harkness, Pangoan Diary, pp. 12, 19.

  285 They would travel Name of town corroborated in letter from Lyn Smith Manduley, a friend of Harkness's in Lima, to Manduley's mother, 22 June 1942, Lyn Smith Manduley Letters, Latin American Library, Tulane University.

  285 With his help Ruth Harkness, “Saludos,” Gourmet, Feb. 1944. One reference to one rental is 76 cents a month; another, in the book Pangoan Diary, is 67 cents a month.

  285 She learned to cook Harkness, Pangoan Diary, pp. 134, 194, 205, 211, 254, 277; the making of masato, pp. 58–59.

  285 Days were taken Ibid. pp. 155–66.

  286 Frequent bouts Ruth Harkness, “Mexican Mornings,” Gourmet, July 1947.

  286 she wrote home to Perkie Harkness to Perkins, either 13 Sept. or 13 Dec. 1940.

  286 “Sometimes an intense” Harkness, Pangoan Diary, pp. 92, 93.

  286 “This feeling exists” All from Yogi Ramacharaka, Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy (Yogi Publication Society, orig. 1903, repr. 1931), recommended by Harkness to Perkins in a letter from Peru in the early 1940s.

  286 By the time Harkness “Woman Scientist Seeks Peru Panda,” Associated Press dateline Miami, FL, 12 Jan. 1942.

  286 Admitted to the hospital Lyn Smith Manduley to Manduley's mother, 24 Mar. 1942.

  287 On the Fourth of July “Hendrik van Loon Dies in Home at 62,” New York Times, 12 Mar. 1944.

  287 As soon as Harkness Ruth Harkness to Helen Sioussat, 8 Jan. 1947, Library of American Broadcasting archives, College Park, MD.

  288 During quiet days “Mrs. Van Loon Is Dead,” New York Times, 9 Nov. 1958.

  288 Ready to pitch “Mrs. Harkness Dies Suddenly in Pittsburgh,” Titusville (Penn.) Herald, 21 July 1947.

  288 “feeling lousy” Helen Criswell, diary entry, 12 Oct., 1946, Cornell University archives.

  288 Through it all Harkness to Sioussat, 14 and 27 July 1946, Library of American Broadcasting archives.

  288 The problem was extreme Siglinde Ash, telephone interview by author, 12 Sept. 2002.

  288 In the face Helen Criswell, diary entry, 3 May 1947, Cornell University archives.

  288 Harkness ended up Harkness to Sioussat, July 1947, carries Fulton as the return address, and this is where her sister lived, according to “Woman Explorer, Former Erieite.”

  288 famously bohemian Chelsea Hotel “Explorer's Widow Dies Unexpectedly in Hotel Bath,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 July 1947; and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 18, 19, 21, and 24 July 1947. She listed the Chelsea as her address.

  288 At almost midnight “Ruth Harkness, 46, Explorer, Is Dead,” New York Times, 21 July 1947, dateline Pittsburgh, 20 July. “Woman Explorer, Former Erieite,” says she checked in on Thurs. Erie Dispatch, 21 July 1947, agrees with Associated Press report—she checked in Fri. Titusville (Penn.) Herald, 21 July 1947, also says Fri. for check-in.

  288 When by midnight “Woman Explorer, Former Erieite.”

  288 Greer used his master key “Ruth Harkness Death Probed,” Associated Press, dateline 20 July 1947.

  288 The bedcovers “Mrs. Harkness to Be Buried in Union Cemetery,” Titusville (Penn.) Herald, 22 July 1947.

  289 In the opinion “Harkness Death Probed.”

  289 The officers searched “Mrs. Ruth Harkness Dies at 46; Brought Giant Panda to U.S.,” New York Herald Tribune, 21 July 1947.

  289 suspect foul play Erie Daily Times, 21 July 1947.

  289 T. R. Helmbo
ld “Mrs. Ruth Harkness Dies at 46.”

  289 She was cremated “Woman Explorer, Former Erieite.”

  289 The simple services Titusville (Penn.) Herald, 21 July 1947.

  289 The family Copy of funeral bill, Tracy Home of Funerals, 120 E. Main Street, Titusville, Penn.: “Titusville's Finest.”

  289 “a heavy loss” Quentin Young to Harriet Anderson, 5 Mar. 1974, from family archives.

  289 Unlike his resilient Kiefer, Chasing the Panda, p. 196.

  291 Kiefer would write Ibid., p. 196.

  291 In 1974 Two letters—both to Mary Lobisco, who was working at the time for a U.S. congressman—make this clear. One from Quentin Young, 30 Nov. 1974, the other from the wife of his former boss, Hazel Good, 25 Nov. 1974.

  291 He not only presented Quentin Young letter to the editor, Smithsonian, 13 Dec. 1983, Harkness family archives.

  291 In the first letter Young to Anderson, 15 Jan. 1974, Ruth Harkness family archives.

  292 The two would be Kiefer, Chasing the Panda, p. 210.

  293 Just miles away Schaller, Last Panda, p. xi.

  293 In Sichuan Province World Wildlife Fund, 15 Feb. 2001, 40th anniversary report.

  294 While dozens of reserves World Wildlife Fund's China division, correspondence from George Schaller, July 2004.

  VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE has been covering pets and wildlife for more than twenty years. She wrote the “Animal Beat” column for The Boston Globe, which was carried internationally by The New York Times News Service.

  She has been a contributor reporting for the National Public Radio environment show Living on Earth on everything from conservation in Madagascar to a coyote vasectomy. She consults on film and television projects, most recently a two-hour documentary on gorillas for the A&E Channel.

  Her highly praised first book, The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos: Past, Present and Future, a comprehensive look at zoos, was published by Scribner's in 1997.

  Croke has also written for Time, People, The Washington Post, Popular Science, Gourmet, Discover National Wildlife, International Wildlife, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was also a news writer and producer for CNN in Atlanta.

  Copyright © 2005 by Vicki Constantine Croke

  Map copyright © 2005 by David Lindroth, Inc.