Collective
efforts
>>
Class
menageries
Breakfast
is a simple meal for Steve Wallman, AM'94. He pops a piece of
bread into his toaster and kah-ping!-a panda. The toasted
image is the spirit animal Wallman chose as a member of the Chicago
Men's Movement 15 years ago. More than 500 items later, Wallman
has collected pandas in many forms: stuffed animals, mugs, plates,
pictures, key chains, waste baskets, rugs, puzzles, watches, and
a mobile. "What connected me with the panda spiritually,"
says Wallman, "is its uniqueness and rarity as an endangered
species and its strength and warmth. These are attributes that
I respect."
When
asked why she collects kangaroos, Jan Dwyer, MBA'92, asks back:
"Can we ever have too much love??!" Stuffed, wooden,
glass-Dwyer has more than 350 kangaroos. But her beloved is the
stuffed Kanga and Roo (of Winnie the Pooh fame) she received
from her grandmother for her fifth Christmas. "Her neck is
sagging, her ears are worn, the little Roo has been sewn many
times," she explains, "but she has been with me for
years. "
Meanwhile,
Julian Klugman, AM'55, and wife Stella have 600 giraffes-including
their recent adoptee at the San Francisco zoo. "From carved
wooden pieces from Oaxaca to delicate crystal from Poland,"
he writes, "the Klugman giraffe family continues to grow
with the help of friends and store-owners who provide alerts on
new sightings!"
Arthur
Koch, AB'45, does not limit himself to a particular species; rather,
he seeks animals carved from wood. His first were a pair of oxen
and wagon purchased on a visit to Nova Scotia. "The young
man said his items were not for sale," Koch recalls, "but
finally broke down and sold me this treasured possession."
S.
Walter Kran, MD'56, has chosen more exotic materials: whale tooth
and reindeer horn. The animal in his collection is the tupilak,
an imaginary and magical creature from Greenland and originally
a living bundle of bones, peat, and skin. Legend holds that when
the first white explorer, Captain Gustav Holm, reached Angmagssalik
in 1884, he asked the people to describe a tupilak. Their
carvings for him were the first tupilak souvenirs. Kran
has 45 of the miniature mythical creatures.
For
Darin A. Croft, SM'96, PhD'00, it's not the animal but what's
inside-literally-that counts. Croft collects bones. Mostly mammal
bones and mostly skulls, "though I also have a comparative
collection of postcranial bones sorted by element," says
the mammalian paleonto- logist. Among his collection of more than
50 species, Croft is partial to his warthog skull, with the marmoset
skull a close runner-up. "They are fascinating natural works
of architecture and, when displayed properly, make for interesting
additions to home decor-or at least for interesting conversations."