Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Did you have any particular experiences/stories that shaped your adult life?

There’s a lot of good information here. I always attribute my compassion for nonhuman animals to my mother’s warm and compassionate soul, my positive thinking, as well as keeping my dreams alive to my incredibly optimistic father. In retrospect, I know I was very lucky to be born into a home where playfulness and laughter were highly valued, as was hard work. I didn’t live with any animals except a goldfish. I used to talk to him as I ate breakfast. It felt very natural to do this. I told my folks that it wasn’t nice to keep him cooped up alone. My parents—Beatrice and Oscar—told me that when I was around 3-years-old I started asking them what animals—especially the dogs, squirrels, birds, and ants with whom I had contact outside of our apartment in Brooklyn—were thinking and feeling. They said I was constantly minding animals; not only was I attributing minds to them, but I also was very concerned with how they were treated and always said we also needed to mind and care for them because they couldn’t do it for themselves. My concern for individual animals has continued on for decades as I work in the rapidly developing field called compassionate conservation.

I loved being outside and although I lived in Brooklyn until I was almost 6-years-old, I always asked if I could go outside and play. I found that I was being unwilded by having to go to school and sit inside all day; I fought the “unwilding” and rewilded myself by spending as much time as I could outside. I liked to take walks and I talked to animals and really felt they heard and understood me. I seemed to have a way with them; animals who, I’m told, didn’t warm up to others, really warmed up to me. One fond memory is that I felt more comfortable with the animals than with most people. I could never get too much time outside and this has stuck with me throughout my life. Many of my early experiences are reflected in my book Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence and they truly set me off on the path I’ve followed for many decades. 

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

One important lesson is that every single millisecond is important, some perhaps more important than others. Also, there have been many other lessons and surprises, but the one that sticks out as I travel around the world is that most people really are kind, compassionate, and empathic, and care about others. I have also discovered that I can learn a lot from just about anyone. Media ought to play on the theme of global compassion, rather than the horrific things people do to other people, other animals, and Earth. We need to rewild the media so that animals are represented as who they really are, not as what we want them to be.

I’m also a huge fan of the ONE HEALTH INITIATIVE that stresses that taking care of nonhuman animals is also good for human well-being. We’re all in this world together and need to peacefully coexist. 

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

There are a few but one is that when things are tough, say as you’re writing, stick to it, and don’t give up. I agree that I/we should never give up but early in my career my cousin, world-renowned biographer Robert A. Caro told me that it’s best to stop writing when things are going well. He often mentions that Ernest Hemingway used to say something like stop writing when you know what your next sentence will be. I couldn’t agree more, and often, when I feel stuck, I get up and take a walk or turn on a crappy movie or pick up a spy novel or go for a bike ride and on many occasions, I feel unstuck a few seconds later and can’t wait to get back to writing.

Tell me about one of the darker periods you’ve experienced in life. How you came out of it and what you learned from it?

A dark period in my life—perhaps one of the darkest—and that of many others was the Vietnam war. I’m a heartfelt pacifist and abhor conflict and harming and killing of other beings, human and nonhuman. I came out of it okay and learned that harming and killing other beings doesn’t really solve the deep problems at hand. Sure, it can work for a short while but in the end, it violates dignity, respect, and decency.

What is one thing that you do that you feel has been the biggest contributor to your success so far?

I can multitask with the best of them, but also can focus even in the midst of noise and things that would distract others and read the same sentence(s) over and over again, or micro edit the same sentence(s) repeatedly until they feel right.

What is your morning routine? 

I wake up without an alarm clock around 4 AM and, as the Beatles say, I get up and get out of bed and run a comb across my head and also brush my teeth, take some deep breaths, and relax. I try never to rush in the early morning because what and how I do what I do—the rhythm and the pace—sets the tone for the rest of the day. I love the quietness of early morning and go to bed early. I do just fine with 6 or so hours of good sleep, and I think there’s some sort of genetics working there because that’s how my family typically lives. 

What habit or behavior that you have pursued for a few years has most improved your life?

This is related to the next question. Simply put, I work hard, rest hard, and play hard. As I said, I love to read and write and I still ride my bicycle as many as 8000-10,000 miles a year. I love doing nothing—just sitting still and taking in whatever and whoever is around me—and simply doing nothing but being still and quiet, no music or anything else going on. Also, being vegetarian and then vegan for many years has certainly improved my life in many ways. Teaching a course on animal behavior and compassionate conservation at the Boulder County Jail for nearly 20 years has also had a profound influence on my life as I learned a lot about a large—far too large—proportion of the population who are incarcerated and their numerous artistic and literary talents. 

What are your strategies for being productive and using your time most efficiently?

By working hard, resting hard, playing hard, and knowing when to get up and do “some something else,” I have avoided burnout in all areas of my life. I liken it to walking away from my cortex. I do this by watching movies and reading books that don’t require a lot of deep thinking, and by being addicted to watching tennis matches and bicycle races over and over again. A shot of good single malt scotch stirred with Twizzlers also works to reduce the stress from working on animal and environmental abuse. I don’t at all mean this lightly. Far too many people who work for our planet and other humans and animals suffer from what’s called secondary trauma that causes them to stop what they’re doing because it gets to be too much. They often suffer from PTSD. They need to take care of themselves as they care for others so that they can rekindle and keep ongoing. I also do this by taking long bicycle rides, often alone. Among my mother’s last words to me were, “Be sure to play a lot,” and my father always stressed that it’s important to be able to look in the mirror and laugh at yourself.

What book(s) have influenced your life the most? Why?

I can’t think of a single book or even a handful. I love to read and always have loved to pick up a book—almost any book —and see what it has to offer. But I suppose that among the books that had a major influence on me as I pursued my career and learned more and more about the rich and deep emotional lives of animals were those by the late Professor Donald Griffin on the nature of animal minds and the field of cognitive ethology, the study of animal minds and what’s in them. Also, some books by European ethologists such as Niko Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz, both of whom shared the 1973 Nobel prize for their groundbreaking work.