Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, speaking at Cherokee Country Club.
Jack Hanna was in town earlier this month to be named East Tennessean of the Year by the East Tennessee Historical Society. At $500 per seat, the event, featuring Hanna and several animals from the Columbus Zoo, was a sellout at Cherokee Country Club.
This is only the second time the organization has bestowed this award. The only other time was in 2011 when former Knoxville mayor and current Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam received it.
“I can’t believe you all paid $500 to see me,” a seemingly humbled Hanna said after accepting the award. Although he said his wife, Suzi, had advised him to keep his remarks under 20 minutes, he spoke for over an hour, telling story after story about various animals and exotic locations he’s visited.
The most harrowing was his description of the worst animal bite he’s ever gotten. It was on the David Letterman Show in 1985 when he was handling a 35-pound beaver. “It was a monster beaver,” he recalled. “The biggest beaver I’ve ever seen.”
Near the end of the segment, the animal was startled by some music Letterman’s band started playing, and it chomped down into Hanna’s left hand, nearly severing his thumb. Incredibly, Hanna, who didn’t want Letterman to know what had happened, scurried off stage with the beaver. Backstage, with his hand spurting blood in time to his heartbeat, Hanna wrapped a paper towel around the hand and shoved on some rubber gloves. He then went back out on the set and, with his hands in the gloves, displayed two electric eels.
This baby kangaroo from the Columbus Zoo is named Beatrice. She was kicked out of her mother’s pouch and is being hand-raised. Her fur is very soft, as folks at the cocktail party prior to Hanna’s award dinner can attest.
As soon as that was over, Hanna said he rushed out onto the street to grab a cab. But Manhattan traffic was in gridlock. Starting to feel faint, he asked a doorman where the nearest hospital was, and he walked the six blocks to the emergency room. As he stumbled in the door, hospital workers saw the blood on his famous safari shirt and mistook him for a shooting victim. They wouldn’t believe him when he told them he’d been bitten by a beaver. “How could you be bitten by a beaver in Manhattan?” they asked. Desperate to make them believe him, Hanna decided to lie. “I have a pet beaver,” he said. “And it bit me.”
I almost fainted just hearing the story.
Hanna was born in Knoxville in 1947. His family owned a farm at the corner of Ebenezer Road and Kingston Pike, an area that was considered very remote at the time. As a boy, Hanna worked for several years cleaning cages for his family’s veterinarian, Dr. Warren Roberts. That’s when he fell in love with animals. He often visited the Knoxville Zoo.
After Hanna went to boarding school in Pennsylvania and Muskingum College in Ohio, where he met and married his wife, he returned to Knoxville. Unable to get his parents’ land rezoned for a zoo, he and Suzi opened a pet shop and petting zoo. In 1973, however, a 3-year-old boy was mauled by a lion there and lost his arm. Hanna settled the resulting lawsuit out of court, closed the petting zoo and moved to Central Florida.
He became famous for the time he spent next at the Columbus Zoo, where, as director for 15 years, he is credited with turning a rundown, neglected attraction into one of the most highly regarded and most-visited zoos in America. Today, Hanna is director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. He also is well-known for his numerous morning and late-night television appearances, as well as for his own Emmy-winning TV shows.
“I’ve seen a lot of sloths at Cherokee Country Club, but not like this!” quipped one guest at the cocktail party. Ha.
“Don’t touch him. His teeth are very sharp,” said the handler. Enough said, as far as I was concerned. In case you were wondering, this was a two-toed sloth.
Jack Hanna, left, talking to Chris Christenberry during the reception.
Bill and Donna Cobble visit with the baby kangaroo.
This event certainly lent itself to cute decorations.
Phil Colclough,director of animal collections and conservation at the Knoxville Zoo, and Sharon Moore, the zoo’s director of development.
These two handsome guys were guests at the Moxley Carmichael table. (They both love their devices!) Jeff Cupp, left, with Jim Nichols.
Here’s what the centerpieces looked like. Adorbs.
Moxley Carmichael’s Hannah Parker and Alan Carmichael helped me host our table. Hannah handles the Knoxville Zoo account for us. Alan is company president.
Knoxville Zoo Executive Director Lisa New was with Linda and Pete Claussen, big zoo supporters.
Jane and Kenneth Creed
Knoxville City Councilman Duane Grieve and his wife, Marsha.
You’re not going to go wrong with the food at Cherokee Country Club. Even the salad was fantastic.
Alan loved the steak. But that crab cake was out of this world.
Get a load of this dessert.
My favorite dessert in the whole world: bread pudding.
Natalie Haslam and Dr. Frank Gray
Jim Haslam with Sandy Bertelkamp, center, and Sarah Stowers
Lin and Chris Christenberry
Anne Sprouse, standing, with Dorothy and Caesar Stair
Joan and Neal Allen
Robin and Joe Ben Turner
Back at the Moxley Carmichael table, from left: Rachel Ford, Jim Nichols, Mary Bogert, Jeff Cupp and Peter Acly
Joe and Ann Huie
Cherel Henderson, executive director of the East Tennessee Historical Society, and Marvin House, president of the board, give Hanna his award.
The place was packed.
Hanna was very charming.
Natalie Robinson and City Councilman Marshall Stair after the event.
Angela Howard and her mother, Sue Howard. The Howard and Hanna families have been friends for many years.
OK. I have to admit this puzzled me. This was hanging from the handrail in the lobby of Cherokee Country Club as you waited for the valet to bring your car! What the heck?
Click here for a WBIR “Homegrown” segment about Jack Hanna.
I want a kangaroo. I do not want a beaver. I love Jack Hanna. Who is missing an undergarment?
Cynthia — great post! How interesting — thanks for sharing the beaver story and for the reminder about the Acly beard… I can’t get over the final photo!
Maria: I agree with you on all fronts!
Ellen: What do you mean “reminder” of the Acly beard? Has he gotten rid of it?
Love the kangaroo! I once had the opportunity to pet a kangaroo when serving as a chaperon on my son’s school field trip. Although the children were repeatedly warned not to touch the kangaroos, I ignored the instructions and reached over the fence to give a friendly looking kangaroo a pat on the head. He reached up and grabbed my hand and pulled me off my feet. They’re amazingly strong!
Maybe an item left behind by the baby kangaroo or the sloth?
The kangaroo is adorable! I have always loved Jack Hanna before I ever came to Knoxville. I didn’t realize he was from here until I moved here and learned that fact. What in the world? Someone was obviously uncomfortable and had a little too much to drink. I blame the sloth. Ha!
What a fun event!!
Poor sloth. Gets blamed for everything. Hanna said the sloths are very stinky. (Not this one, of course.) But they stay in the trees and are so slow that moss literally grows on them. And things start living on them. And they stink. They only come down at night to use the bathroom. They don’t want to use the bathroom from up in the trees because that might attract the attention of a mountain lion or another predator who would come up there and eat them. Better to sneak down to do your business and then return and continue the exciting lifestyle to which you are accustomed. Who knew?
Wow, Michelle! No kidding! They are that strong?
I now know everything I ever need to know about stinky sloths. Sounds like a great event!
About the Author
What You’re Saying
What’s Hot
My Favorite Blogs
Archives