Woody had nowhere else to go and when he learned that the giraffes were headed for California, he was determined to somehow follow them.
Miraculously, two giraffes who had crossed the Atlantic survived – the female with an injured leg. What he found himself in was the hurricane of 1938 which affected the East Coast and destroyed many homes, businesses and lives. He has lost all of his family and like many from all of the states that were affected by the “dust bowl” he was looking for a new life, a chance to start over. It takes place mostly in the distant past with some reflections on other parts of his life.Īt age 17 Woody had traveled to New York from the “dust bowl” destroyed lands of Texas. The novel begins with Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, who begins to write the story he knows he must write before he dies. This story was told with great warmth and humor and filled with an incredible tale based on true events. “Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, 'WEST WITH GIRAFFES' explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.”Īny time I see a story that involves animals I am always drawn to it. I’m going to include a part of the blurb that enticed me to listen to this wonderful audiobook: Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo.
They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder.
But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. “Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…” An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.
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