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Jungle
Author Back in Print
Press
‘bucks’ trend in book
market
by
Bill Whitaker
Abilene
Reporter-News
July
30, 2000 p 2F
When it came to
reviving in print the exotic,
danger-filled adventures of
Frank "Bring ‘Em Back
Alive" Buck, editor and
lifelong fan Steven Lehrer had
to bring’ em back to Texas.
As well-known as Buck
was throughout America in the
1920s, '30s and early ‘40s,
as acclaimed as his books and
movie spin-offs proved through
much of the 20th century,
Lehrer found today's
publishers reluctant to
reissue Buck's long
out-of-print classic, Bring
'Em Back Alive.
Finally, Texas Tech
University Press agreed to
republish the 70-year-old
work, along with several
chapters from Buck's Wild
Cargo (1932) and excerpts
from Fang
and Claw (1935) and Animals
Are Like That! (1940). "I found out it's
mainly the Texas publishers
who are even interested in
Frank Buck, and that may be
because he's a Texan,"
said Lehrer, 55, associate
professor of radiation
oncology at Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New York City.
"I guess he's been
forgotten
here in New York.
"Fame is fickle.
Maybe it's the animal rights
thing. People who are 60 or 65
or older know him and his
work, but the younger ones who
are now editors at so many
publishing houses don't know
him."
Buck's fame was once
substantial enough that
popular films were made of his
adventures traveling to far
off lands and humanely
capturing animals for zoos.
One film--this one highly
fictionalized--even had him
battling Nazis in the bush.
Yet Buck has been one
of the great casualties of
changing times, partially
because of American society's
increasingly divided views on
wildlife, zoos and racial
relations. Views on the latter
showed Buck tolerant of other
races but somewhat
condescending in the manner of
the times. In editing the book
for its return to bookstore
shelves, Lehrer quietly
jettisoned the more
objectionable racial
references.
That said, Buck's Bring 'Em Back Alive
boasts not only colorful,
tensely told accounts of run-ins
with dangerous animals but
lots of wit and irony. Buck
even shows his compassionate
side, especially involving
animals such as a beloved,
quite intelligent orangutan
named Gladys.
If Buck was something
of a promotional showman--with
himself as the top act--it was
enough to enthrall Americans
in the grips of the Great
Depression. Lehrer says Buck
even served as the model for
wild game showman Carl Denham
in the Hollywood film classic
"King Kong." Buck's
bigger-than-life persona
figures considering his Lone
Star roots.
Born in Gainesville, he
grew up fascinated by stories
of foreign lands and wild
animals--an interest that
compelled him to explore local
game, including a nearly
disastrous
encounter with a 2-foot
copperhead.
Lehrer's own
fascination with Buck began
when he was 10 years old and
picked up a copy of Bring
'Em Back Alive at his
school library. The tales of
faraway locales, exotic game
and Buck's own courage in the
face of seemingly
insurmountable odds held
Lehrer transfixed.
"It
was the high point of my
childhood," he said.
"Everything from his
battle with a cobra to nearly
being pulled into a pit by a
man-eating tiger--all of it
made me realize how brave he
was. And, even now, when I
look at his books, I realize
just how well written they
actually are."
It didn't hurt, of
course, that Buck's
collaborator early on was
Edward Anthony, a prominent
figure in New York literary
circles, who helped impart a
certain dramatic urgency to Bring
'Em Back Alive and Buck's
second book, Wild
Cargo.
Sadly, Anthony and Buck
parted ways over the movie
adaptation of Bring 'Em Back Alive
(1930), which Anthony felt
cheated him. Buck found other
collaborators for such books
as Fang
and Claw, but his collaborations
with Anthony are acknowledged
to be the finest of Buck's
books.
Buck
the brass
Buck
was a tough customer when it
came to holding on to his
share of rights.
"Even now, I'd
like to know just how he was
able to cope in the jungles of
Hollywood after surviving the
jungles of the Far East,”
Lehrer said. “In the
1930’s he had as his agent
the man who was also agent for
Raymond Chandler.
"I got to look
through some of that agent's
letters and papers about Frank
Buck and I gathered Buck was a
pretty shrewd individual who
probably didn’t even need an
agent. I've always wondered
how he dealt with these very
sharp movie moguls such as
Louis B. Mayer and Jack
Warner"
Asked if republishing Bring
'Em Back Alive may prompt
reviving other Frank Buck
works, including his
autobiography, All
in a Lifetime (1941),
Lehrer says the idea is an
appealing one but highly
dependent on the success of
the new edition of Buck's
classic.
These are different
times, he says.
"There's a
different view of animals that
has developed over the
years," he said.
"The animal rights groups
don't even really like zoos
and they want to do things
like take the elephants out of
the circuses. That's more
politically correct
today."
Lehrer's editing of
Buck's classic is something of
a departure for him. The son
of a doctor, Lehrer's previous
books have been more in line
with his profession. They
include Understanding Lung
Sounds and Understanding
Pediatric Heart Sounds.
Nor has he traveled to some of the
exotic, often dangerous climes
that Buck seemed to thrive in.
That said, Lehrer does work
near New York City's Central
Park--"and that's pretty
close!" Contact
associate editor Bill Whitaker
at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com.
East Texas Historical Association For many people of middle age or older, the phrase "bring 'em back alive" recalls jungle adventurer Frank Buck, a powerfully-built man who sported a pencil mustache and a pith helmet. Frank Howard Buck was born in 1884 in Gainesville, Texas, and died sixty-six years later in Houston. During the years between his Texas beginning and finale, Buck became famous for a career that took him to exotic locales in search of rare and dangerous creatures. As a boy growing up in nineteenth-century Texas, Buck avidly trapped and collected small animals, birds, and snakes. He quit school after the seventh grade and found work as a cowpuncher on a train to the Chicago stockyards. In Chicago he associated with unsavory characters, engaged in barroom brawls, and, at seventeen, took a forty-one-year-old bride. The couple divorced, allowing Buck to marry
soul-mate Muriel Reilly. In 1911, with the profits from a poker game, Buck journeyed to Brazil to buy exotic birds, which he sold in New York. Buck began traveling to the jungles of India, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines in search of animals, reptiles, and birds he could sell to zoos and circuses. At this time the jungle animal business was dominated by a German company, Hagenbeck. But the First World War curtailed the activities of Hagenbeck, and Frank Buck aggressively seized this opportunity. Soon he was the most notable animal supplier in the world, and in 1922 the city of Dallas commissioned him to populate an entire zoo. "I have made it my business to bring them back alive," wrote Buck, in explanation of the painstaking care he gave the creatures he purchased and trapped. The first of eight autobiographical books, Bring 'Em Back Alive, appeared in 1930. The next year, with 125,000 feet of film he shot in the jungle, Buck produced a hit movie with the same title. He served as the model for a character in the legendary motion picture, King Kong. Buck had a network radio show, appeared with Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus, and was a popular subject of comic books. By the time he died of lung cancer in 1950, Frank Buck had achieved worldwide fame. That this hardy Texan's celebrity was earned is made evident in a new version of Bring 'Em Back Alive, which is a compilation of exciting and often chilling first-person adventures excerpted from five of his books. Bill O'Neal “As
a boy I read everything that I could get my hands on that had anything to do
with animals. My reading list went from "The Swiss Family Robinson" to
Teddy Roosevelt’s stories about big game hunting to Frank Buck and his books.
I also remember Frank Buck from the movie he was in with Abbott and
Costello [Africa Screams,
1949].
“As a zoo person today I'm dealing with captive populations of many endangered
species, some of which may possibly be descendants of animals collected by Frank
Buck. As I read the book I was continually impressed with the care and attention
given to the wild animals brought into captivity by Mr. Buck. He had neither the
equipment nor the means of transportation that we have available to us today,
yet he was able to work out the logistics of relocating animals from the forests and
savannas safely to the zoos that would be their homes.
“I think that the way in which Mr. Buck wrote his book will interest just about any
reader with an appreciation for wildlife. Frank Buck was a wildlife collector who was
handling animals at a time when there was no such thing as an endangered species,
and in many cases little was known about the behavior of the animals he
collected. Considering what he was up against, I find it quite remarkable that he
was as successful as he was. This book is a fun read about how he did
it...Because of my work I appreciated this book much more now than I did as a
young man.
James G. Doherty
“Bring 'Em Back Alive: The Best of Frank Buck, introduced and edited by Steven Lehrer,
is a delight for anyone interested in wildlife and conservation. Its depiction
of vast untamed wildernesses has substantial historical value.
“During Buck’s lifetime, wildlife was abundant everywhere. He employed a multinational
cadre of hunters, trap and cage builders, translators, and caretakers to cover
every facet of the operation for a safe and humane transit for animals from the
wild to the zoo. The logistics of rounding up, housing, and feeding a
collection of mammals, birds, and reptiles for a two to three week journey across the Pacific are mind boggling.
“Today most zoos obtain new animals from other zoos. Very few animals are taken from
the wild. Most species breed freely in captivity in collaborative management
programs. In fact, many species are unavailable from the wild because of their
scarcity or because of local and international conservation regulations that
protect endangered species. Today's human population explosion, resulting in
destruction and fragmentation of wildlife habitat, would shock Frank Buck. Yet
no doubt, descendants of some of his imports to zoos ensure that their species
continue.
“Frank Buck was a personal friend of the major zoo directors of the world. He was
respected for his honesty and his concern for the welfare of his
charges. His conservation-minded nature is expressed in his writings. As a child, I read all of his books, and I'm sure
they influenced my early interest in wildlife and wilderness. Bring ‘Em Back
Alive: The Best of Frank Buck is a wonderful reminiscence for old
timers like me, and an adventurous introduction to the past for young
wildlife enthusiasts.” Charlie Hoessle “During his heyday, the 1920s and '30s, adventurer Frank "Bring
'Em Back Alive" Buck was one of the most famous men in America, in the same league
with the Lindberghs, Ruths and Dempseys of the day.
The wild game hunter (he captured animals live for zoos and circuses; that's how
he got his nickname) lived and worked all over the world. But when he needed a
little rest and relaxation where did he go?
Right here. San Angelo, Texas.
Why? For the same reason that a lot of us come back: family. Buck's father, sister,
brother and daughter lived in San Angelo, and another brother lived in Fort
Davis. Buck, who died of a lung disease in 1950 at age 66, spent his last years
in San Angelo, living in his sister's house on South Bishop Street.
A recent book by a New York doctor recaptures some of Buck's best adventures.
"Bring 'Em Back Alive: The Best of Frank Buck" by Steven Lehrer begins with a
short description of Buck's life. (Unfortunately, it skips over Buck's early San
Angelo connection, but I'll get back to that.) The rest of the book reprints
some of Buck's writing from "Bring
'Em Back Alive," "Wild
Cargo," "Fang and Claw" "All in a Lifetime" and
"Animals Are Like That."
Just listen to the titles from some of the chapters: "Man Eater,"
"Killer of Killers," "Spitting Cobra," "Terrible
Tusks."
Just listen to this excerpt from Buck's description of a cobra attack: "I
flattened myself against the back of the shed, grimly eyeing the killer that lay
almost at my feet. The expressionless eyes calmly looking back at me gave me a
cold and clammy feeling. I didn't want to die this way. It was not my notion of
a decent death. Surely there must be some way out."
Naturally, there was. And the books about his adventures, and movies made from the books,
kept a generation on the edge of their seats.
Back to the San Angelo connection.
Buck was born in 1884 in Gainesville, Texas (and a great little zoo there is named
for him). He later moved with his family to Dallas.
In his autobiography, "All in a Lifetime," Frank Buck said that his
brother, Walter, migrated to San Angelo in the early 1900s and got a job on the
Suggs Ranch. (Walter later became a San Angelo car dealer.)
As a North Texas teenager, Frank Buck felt the itch to travel, and he asked his brother for help.
"All I can offer, Frank, is cow punching. We're sending a trainload of beef to
Chicago next week," Walter told him.
"OK,"Frank replied. "I'll be a cowpuncher."
And that's how the world's most famous wild game hunter got his start: accompanying
a load of San Angelo cattle on a train trip to Chicago.
He was off and running.
Buck's animal trapping travels took him
around the world. He made a living capturing and selling animals, and, beginning
in 1930, Buck's books, movies and radio programs about his adventures made him
famous.
Though he regularly visited family members in San Angelo, Frank Buck didn't spend a lot
of time here until the late 1940s when he moved here to recuperate from lung
surgery. He lived with his sister, Mrs. John M. Logan, and his daughter, Barbara
Buck.
Needless to say, we were thrilled to have such a celebrity among us. It seemed like every
time Buck mailed a letter, the newspaper would be on hand to take a picture and write
a story.
How did Frank Buck feel about trading the jungles of the world for a little town in
West Texas?
"I was now Frank Buck, who had achieved fame in the jungles, in motion pictures, in
literary circles and in the show world," he wrote in his autobiography in
1941.
"Yet in my heart I am still the small town
Texas boy who loves birds better than anything else on earth."
Two of Frank Buck's books, "All in a Lifetime" and "Bring
'Em Back Alive" are available at the Tom Green County Library. Steven Lehrer's new
book, "Bring 'Em Back Alive: The Best of Frank Buck" can be ordered
from local bookstores or through www.barnesandnoble.com.
Contact Rick at rsmith@texaswest.com or 659 8248.
RICK SMITH Frank Buck was an international celebrity. The stories of this courageous animal
hunter and jungle adventurer captivated generations of readers and moviegoers.
These are stories that appeal to young and old alike. It is time for the present generation to be introduced to a man who in
his day was as well known as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. (Who
are they?)
Buck spent his life bringing them back alive--birds, snakes, elephants, etc. In those days there were no tranquilizer
darts. Buck learned how to build traps and snares in ways that prevented injury
to the animals he caught. He always accompanied his animals aboard ship to
make certain they were well treated, and also to his credit was the fact that he
refused sale to anyone who did not have an impeccable reputation for animal
care.
The purchase of this book will enable the reader to
join Frank Buck on some incredible adventures.
Ron W. Fischer A
most exciting book...it is vivid and lively and can be recommended to anybody
who likes being made to sit on the edge of his chair and gasp for breath as his
eyes eat up the print to see what happens next.
Florence Finch Kelly "I do not know when I have read a book concerning wild animals that is so
interesting from cover to cover." ...packed with excitement and common sense and a real feeling for animals. A rattling good yarn. If you like animal adventure stories, read this book. Bring ‘Em Back Alive gets you from the first glimpse of its gorgeous dust jacket...Once
the story is begun the reader jumps from one breathless moment to another. A book full of the richest and juiciest yarns that have come from the presses in many an
autumn. Anyone interested in animals or actual stories of adventure will find Bring ‘Em Back Alive good reading, where the
completion of one chapter lures one into another. It is an exciting
trail. Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator
Book Review Section, Spring 2001
Bring 'Em Back Alive: The Best of Frank Buck, Steven Lehrer, editor (Texas Tech University Press, P. 0. Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79410-1037) 2000. Reprint 1930. Introduction. B&W Photos. Index. P. 248. $28.95. Hardcover.
Panola College
General Curator
Bronx Zoo
Director
St. Louis Zoo
San Angelo Standard Times
May 31, 2000
The Tombstone Epitaph
October 2000
New York Times Book Review
George Eastman
Eastman Kodak Company
Bookman
New York World
Outlook
Detroit Free Press
Newark Evening News
Bronx Zoo
New York Herald Tribune