Friday, March 10, 2017

#17 Hugo, Oklahoma


3 comments:

Roger Smith said...

My great friend. We used to swap the Jungleland cat acts with each other. When I helped Mabel Stark through her morning cage-cleaning and caretaking routine, on the last day of her career, Okie stood out of sight, ready to assist if Mabel indeed tried to carry out her threat to let her tigers kill her. There was no such drama, and the morning went as smoothly as had the others of my time with her. She gave us her belongings out of her dressing room and Okie and I took her home. The date was Friday, November 10, 1967. Rest In Peace, Okie.

Dennis said...

Okie showed me the ropes when it came to big cats and elephants. His cat act advice was short and never repeated. I never felt completly comfortable in the arena during the rare times he was not standing outside nearby.

Dennis said...

Two of the tigers I worked with were Harriet and Mabel. Both were named by Okie.