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SERENGETI HOME by Kay Turner

SERENGETI HOME

By

Pub Date: Aug. 1st, 1977
Publisher: Dial

As the wife of a game warden, Kay Turner spent sixteen years in the Serengeti's western sector, raising two children, tolerating an increasing number of tourists, and sharing her homes--often unwittingly--with a series of wild animals. Puff adders and cobras were commonplace, lions patrolled the grounds at night, and poaching (via mutilating snares) was a continuing problem despite stepped-up legal penalties. Turner was a genial witness, and her lightly organized narrative includes close-ups of wild pets and a clutch of notable visitors--the Grzimeks, Prince Philip, various Kennedys, Spike Milligan, Lindbergh, the Adamsons, President Nyerere. Husband Myles, who served as model for the warden in Living Free now counts himself--and other expatriate wardens--as an endangered species: in 1972 he was eased out of his position, replaced by a Tanzanian citizen. Less politically astute than Hayes' The Last Place on Earth (p. 136), Turner's account is personalized, anecdotal entertainment, equally suitable for adults and younger readers.