Be as One

As you know I have a love for the outdoors, especially for birds. And I love cats. Back in the 1960s I had a favorite TV show that had me dreaming of living in Africa taking care of wild animals, especially the big cats. I idolized the lead female character, wishing I could live as she did with her father, having a lion, a chimp and all sort of other exotic animals as pets. She and her father cared for animals in the wild and taught appreciation and care for their environment.

The character was Paula Tracy, played by Cheryl Miller. Her father was known as “Daktari,” doctor in Swahili. The chimp was Judy and the lion, Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion.

The show was Daktari and it aired from 1966 to 1969.

Recently the show has been released on DVD (Seasons 1 and 2). I received Season 1 as a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law and his wife and I was so happy to receive it. Their kindness in remembering my mention of the show prompted me to create a fan site (the only fan site) dedicated to the show.

Here’s some more about the site and if you remember loving Daktari in your childhood, I hope you’ll drop by for a visit and subscribe to the blog. I have much more to add to the site for your enjoyment. And be sure and leave comments on about the show!

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Welcome to the Daktari TV Show Fan Site!

This fan site is in honor of my favorite TV show as a child, Daktari.

It was inspired by a wonderfully thoughtful act, and a tremendously stupid one.

The thoughtful act? That comes from my brother-in-law, Tim Bailey, a director for The Simpsons, and his wife Jen. Tim is a serious collector of movie and TV memorabilia and actor autographs. I happened to mention that Daktari had been my favorite show and the DVDs for Season One were out. Guess what I got for Christmas from them? 🙂 I was very touched that they remembered. It was the best Christmas present in years!

Now I’ll confess the stupid act.

First, a little history.

I collected pictures of Cheryl Miller (Paula Tracy) and had amassed a large collection of at least one hundred pictures, along with numerous articles from movie and TV magazines of the day. I was ten when Daktari first aired and wanted to be Paula, spending my days outdoors with animals, especially the big cats. I requested an allowance so I could send away to a company called Stephen Sally (which remarkably still exists!) for glossy photos of my fav. Looking for that familiar large brown envelope in our mailbox each week was a real thrill.

I had my pictures plastered all over the walls of my bedroom.  Eventually my parents gave me a large pink scrapbook (undoubtedly so I would clean off the walls!) and I kept my collection there for years, even into adulthood.

I was very proud of that collection.

The mistake?

I packed away my scrapbook in a box, not knowing that a package of old batteries was also inside. The battery acid leaked all over the book, destroying the binding and staining some of the pictures. Overwhelmed by the idea of transferring all the paraphernalia into a new book, I threw it out. Needless to say, that mistake still haunts me.

So I decided to rebuild my collection with this website.

There appears to be a renewed interest in Daktari now that Seasons One and Two are available on DVD and with that interest, a deluge of new pictures of Cheryl Miller has appeared on the web. I intend to collect them all and preserve them on this site for those of you out there who also love this series.

Daktari’s intrinsic value

I think Daktari has aged rather well considering the fact it is nearly fifty years old.

Role model for girls

As a young girl growing up in the 1960s, Cheryl Miller (Paula Tracy) proved to be a great role model: beautiful, smart, passionate and resourceful with her interest in science and the environment trumping her interest in boyfriends, though I still wish she and Jack Dane (Yale Summers) had gotten together …

People of different races working together

Daktari was one of the first shows to offer an African American man in a leading role (Hari Rhodes as Mike Makula). In fact, the show offered many supporting and guest roles to African American actors. It was a wonderful example of the right kind of race relations, where people were judged on their character alone, just as Dr. Martin Luthor King would have wanted it.

Care for animals and the environment

Marshall Thompson‘s presence as “Daktari,” Dr. Marsh Tracy was very comforting. He genuinely cared about the welfare of animals and the people that shared the land with them, and had a lot of input into the stories.

Yes, it is a children’s show and yes, the stories are simplistic and the characters one dimensional. The animals (Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion and Judy the Chimp) were the real stars. But the show is refreshingly clean and the gentle message of protecting wild animals and their environment was ahead of its time. The message got across loud and clear without preaching and without the extremism and politicizing that so taints that message today.

Why a Daktari Fan Site?

So, as a result of the release of Seasons One and Two of Daktari on DVD, plus the effort to rebuild my collection, and most importantly, in honor of my thoughtful brother-in-law and his wife who helped me remember the happy days of my childhood, this site has been created.

It is dedicated to you, all the fans of Daktari who have kept the flame lit over the past forty seven years. Enjoy the renaissance of this wonderful TV series!

Click to Tweet & Share: Dreaming of Africa as a child, and remembering the TV show “Daktari” http://wp.me/p2D9hg-rZ

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I write a monthly column for Catholicmom.com. This was my contribution for March. I have followed Pat Gohn’s career for several years from when she first made her appearance on the web with her outstanding podcast, Among Women. She is well-educated, well-spoken and a hard and patient worker who deserves her success with this book. I am proud to call her “friend.”

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Feminism has always presented a bit of a conundrum for this 50-something woman. That’s right: the one who grew up during the heyday of the women’s liberation movement. The one who now immerses herself in 19^th century feminist history with her passion for Louisa May Alcott. While I was too young to have a bra to burn, I remember hearing about it on TV. It was a symbol of women’s empowerment. Feminism meant we could control our bodies and bust through the glass ceiling. No longer dependent on men, we could actually compete with them. We could make our own mark in the world.

Yet, I recall in the 1980s feeling left out as a young mother, madly juggling home life with work life. I worked because we needed the money but I desperately wanted to stay home and just think about one thing – my children. Sometimes while vacuuming I’d watch morning talk shows and bristle at the subtle condescension I’d hear about stay-at-home mothers while women working outside the home were lauded as heroes.

Seems to me I was working pretty hard and I felt like I was missing out on something.

I wish I had first hand knowledge of what life was like before women’s liberation. I have to depend on reading to figure that out. My knowledge of Louisa May Alcott (among other things, she worked for women’s suffrage as did her mother) have given me much to ponder about the life of women in the 19^th century, their limited choices, little opportunity for education and total lack of voice.

It was only less than one hundred years ago that women got the vote in the United States (1920 to be exact) so I get it why feminists are so passionate, even militant, about women’s rights. I get it that women had no autonomy, no control over their lives or their bodies.

What I don’t get is the utter denial of what makes a woman unique – her role as a bearer of life and the primary caretaker (and influence) of the future generation. If the acquisition of power is the goal, can one wield more power than this? It is power however born of sacrificial love, a love that requires surrender, something that modern day feminism cannot reconcile nor embrace.

Pat Gohn, writer, speaker and host of the popular SQPN podcast, “Among Women” presents in her debut book, Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood a new brand of feminism based upon the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and writings by John Paul II where he coined the phrase “feminine genius.” In her brand of feminism, there is no holding back:

“The most excellent women, the bodacious women, are women who authentically live their dignity and gifts. They don’t keep beauty and blessing to themselves. They lovingly lavish it upon others … their ability to stretch and serve sends positive ripple effects into the world.”

This is about power but not the power of domination over men. It’s the power to be fully female. And that power is drawn from within, from the Source that created women in the first place.

Pat also grew up during the women’s liberation movement. She was ambitious, wanting to make her mark in the world:

“I was schooled in the cultural cliché that told women that you are what you do. My generation was among the first expected to compete with men – not rely on them or trust them … There was so much to achieve and I was an eager achiever.” (pg. 12)

Pat was also a spiritual woman, devoted to her Catholic faith. She found increasing disparity between grasping for outer achievement and “living from the inside out.” It didn’t seem to add up.

Marriage and motherhood only served to aggravate her frustration. She could no longer live for her own desires and ambitions; there were others to consider. Priorities had to be set – what was most important?

It was here and frequently throughout the book that I kept writing, “That’s me!” or “Me too!” in the margins. Pat’s candid sharing of her life experience and how she eventually reconciled it through a growing knowledge and devotion to Mary mirrored my own life.

Pat’s message is especially important to women of my generation and before. Too many times I have witnessed women who have no sense of their own worth, who don’t love themselves enough to take time for themselves, to nurture themselves. They spend every last bit of love and energy on those around them and often without recompense. I have seen such women sad, depressed and burnt out. All this even though these same women grew up seemingly enjoying the advantages of women’s liberation.

I long for these women to read chapters 4-7 where Pat spells out the beautiful gifts of women: receptivity, generosity, sensitivity and maternity.

• Receptivity: the capacity to recognize and receive love. Seeking out and drawing in those around us into relationship.
• Generosity: the giving of ourselves to others, the natural extension of receptivity – we receive love, therefore we give love.
• Sensitivity: sensing and discerning things of the heart, those things of God. Sometimes called feminine intuition, sensitivity allows us to read others and attend to their needs as a result.
• Maternity: giving life, whether literally (as in having a baby) or figuratively in the way we care for others.

These are the gifts to cherish, the ones that make a true difference in the lives of others. This is what Pat means by “living from the inside out.” These gifts must be nurtured from within, connected intimately with the God who gave them. They are what changes lives forever for the good.

Pat writes often of Mary as the courageous example because of her unwavering “yes” to God to bear His son. This “yes” wasn’t a “yes” of duty but one given in trust despite not knowing how it would impact her life. She joyfully accepted her role and couldn’t wait to share the news with her cousin, Elizabeth. It was a “yes” that would lead to glorious blessings and deep suffering, all of which she pondered in her heart. Pat writes:

“Submission to God’s plan is anything but a weak choice … Being a loving and faithful servant did not demean Mary; it fulfilled her … Mary helped me find the grace I needed to lay down my old self-centered ways – in exchange for a new a joyful feminine love that embraced others without fear and without having to receive something in order to give.” (pg. 57)

Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious affirms the choices I made for my children back when I was a young mother. It affirms the path I take today, growing in faith and learning how to give away all the love I receive from my God within. Pat’s journey was my journey and I believe it may be yours, too. It’s a journey, and a book, that I can heartily recommend.

Click to Tweet & Share: Book review: Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious by Pat Gohn – a new way to look at feminism http://wp.me/p2D9hg-rj

Would you like to learn along with Susan how to live your life
in single flow?
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Listen to Susan’s music Read Susan’s blog, Louisa May Alcott is My Passion