The Lady And The Panda: The True Adventures Of The First American Explorer To Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal

Advance Praise for THE LADY AND THE PANDA
“A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke’s canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story.”
–ROBERT KURSON, author of Shadow Divers

“Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing.”
–JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of When Elephants Weep

“Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke’s hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world’s most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read.”
–STELLA DONG, author of Shanghai
From the Hardcover edition.

VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE has been covering pets and wildlife for more than a decade, and writes the “Animal Beat” column for The Boston Globe. A former writer and producer for CNN, she has been a contributing reporter for the National Public Radio environment show Living on Earth and consults on film and television projects, most recently a two-hour documentary on gorillas for the A&E channel. Croke is the author of The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos–Past, Present and Future, and has also written for Time, People, The Washington Post, Popular Science, Gourmet, National Wildlife, Discover, International Wildlife, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
From the Hardcover edition.