How a professor, head of the visual arts department of the Teachers College in Bloomsburg, comes to be a trainer of wild animals is a story that takes a number of years, of animals and of obstacles, and is the story of a man who found ""freedom in my escape to the lions"". The author, married and with two daughters, had always had an affinity for animals -- circuses with performing (?) cats in his boyhood, a young wolf and a bear in school plays when he was teaching, a team of huskies and assorted poultry as part of his household and iguanas to round out his showmanship -- and when a puma was sent him, as a joke, he determined to train it. His aim accomplished and the puma sold, he bought four more cats, and for every penny he made he added to his collection, learning the hard way that he had increased his hazards by working a mixture of breeds. Carnivals and fairs led to Atlantic City's $1,000,000 Pier and finally to the decision to break completely away from education and make his life show business only. This led to divorce, to travel the country over, to Disneyland, vaudeville -- and the big time with Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey. Filled with anecdotes of his performers, with details about his particular method of training, with dangerous incidents -- never the animal's fault, with all the risks of his chosen trade, this is an outgoing account of a man's discovery of the way he really wanted to live -- and as such will provide an escape route for others.