Jump to content

Betty Leslie-Melville: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
KolbertBot (talk | contribs)
m Added remainder of books written, corrected the punctuation.
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
Line 5: Line 5:
| caption =
| caption =
| image =
| image =
|birth_name= Betty McDonnell
|birth_name= Betty Julia McDonnelll
| birth_date =March 7, 1927
| birth_date = March 7, 1927
| birth_place = [[Baltimore, Maryland]]<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
| birth_place = [[Baltimore, Maryland]]<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|9|23|1927|3|7|df=y}}<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|9|23|1927|3|7|df=y}}<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
Line 12: Line 12:
| occupation = Writer, conservationist
| occupation = Writer, conservationist
| pseudonym =
| pseudonym =
| spouse =Lloyd Anderson,<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> (div.)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br>Danny Bruce,<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> (div.)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br> Jock Leslie-Melville, <br>(m. 1964; his death 1984)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br>[[George P. Steele|George Peabody Steele]]<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> <br>(her death 2005)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
| spouse =Lloyd Anderson,<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> (div.)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br>Dan Bruce,<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> (div.)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br> Jock Leslie Melville, <br>(m. 1963; his death 1984)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/><br>[[George P. Steele|George Peabody Steele]]<ref name="BLMnytObit"/> <br>(her death 2005)<ref name="BLMnytObit"/>
| children =
| children = F. M. (Rick) Anderson, Eliza Dancy Bruce Mills, McDonnell Marshall Bruce
| genre =
| genre =
|language = English
|language = English
| movement =
| movement =
|alma_mater =Johns Hopkins University
|alma_mater =
| notableworks =''Raising Daisy Rothschild'', ''Elephant Have Right of Way'', ''There's a Rhino in the Rose Bed'', ''Mother'', ''That Nairobi Affair'', and ''Walter Warthog''
| notable works =''Raising Daisy Rothschild,'' ''Elephant Have the Right of Way', ''There's a Rhino in the Rose Bed, Mother,'' ''That Nairobi Affair," "Walter Warthog,'' "Bagomoyo," 'That Nairobi Affair," "A Falling Star," "The Giraffe Lady," "Raising Daisy Rothschild: The Giraffe Who Lived With Me" (children's edition), "Walter Warthog (children's edition,"
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}
'''Betty Leslie-Melville''' (née '''McDonnell''') (March 7, 1927 – September 23, 2005) was an [[United States|American]] born author and conservationist.
'''Betty Leslie Melville''' (née '''McDonnell''') (March 7, 1927 – September 23, 2005) was an [[United States|American]] born author and conservationist.


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 19:26, 26 November 2017


Betty Leslie-Melville
BornBetty Julia McDonnelll
March 7, 1927
Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Died23 September 2005(2005-09-23) (aged 78)[1]
Baltimore, Maryland[1]
OccupationWriter, conservationist
LanguageEnglish
SpouseLloyd Anderson,[1] (div.)[1]
Dan Bruce,[1] (div.)[1]
Jock Leslie Melville,
(m. 1963; his death 1984)[1]
George Peabody Steele[1]
(her death 2005)[1]
ChildrenF. M. (Rick) Anderson, Eliza Dancy Bruce Mills, McDonnell Marshall Bruce

Betty Leslie Melville (née McDonnell) (March 7, 1927 – September 23, 2005) was an American born author and conservationist.

Early life

Born in Baltimore, Maryland,[1] the daughter of a Doctor,[2] Leslie-Melville attended Johns Hopkins University.[1]

Family life

Leslie-Melville married Jock Leslie-Melville in 1964.[1], [2]

She was instrumental in creating sanctuaries to preserve the subspecies of the Rothschild's giraffe in Kenya. Often called the "Giraffe Lady", she spent much of her life living and working in Kenya protecting and caring for the Rothschild's giraffe population there, primarily through a breeding programme established at her residence, Giraffe Manor. During her time working there, the Rothschild's giraffe population grew from about one hundred twenty to over four hundred.

Along with her husband Jock Leslie-Melville and their adopted giraffe Daisy, they were the subject of the film The Last Giraffe (1979) with Susan Anspach playing Betty.[3]

As part of their fund-raising efforts, Betty and Jock Leslie-Melville collaborated on a series of books about animals, most of them characterized by Betty's rather breathless style. Raising Daisy Rothschild (1977) "the story of two delightful young people and how they raised and grew to love a young giraffe... or two" became a best-seller. More animal stories followed: Elephant Have Right of Way (1973), There's a Rhino in the Rose Bed, Mother (1973), That Nairobi Affair (1975) and Walter Warthog (1989), a children's story about the tame warthog they named after their friend Walter Cronkite, the CBS news anchorman. The books helped to raise more funds for the Giraffe Centre they set up at Langata, Kenya in 1983.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Douglas, Martin (October 4, 2005), Betty Leslie-Melville, 78, Dies; Helped Save Giraffe Breed, New, York, NY: New York Times
  2. ^ a b Oliver, Joan (June 17, 1974), The Leslie-Melville Marriage: Safari, So Good, People, Vol. I No. 16, New York, NY: Time Inc.
  3. ^ The Last Giraffe (1979) (TV) Internet Movie Database