Roger A. Caras

Roger A. Caras
Born Roger Andrew Caras
(1928-05-24)May 24, 1928
Methuen, Massachusetts, United States
Died February 18, 2001(2001-02-18) (aged 72)
United States
Nationality American
Occupation Author, Television/Radio personality, Animal activist
Notable work ABC News Correspondent
CBS Radio personality
Author
International speaker
Dog show host

Roger Andrew Caras (May 24, 1928 – February 18, 2001) was an American wildlife photographer, writer, wildlife preservationist and television personality.

Known as the host of the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Caras was the author of more than 70 books, a veteran of network television programs including Nightline, ABC World News Tonight and 20/20 before devoting himself to work as president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Biography

Early life and education

Born May 24, 1928, in the rural town of Methuen, Massachusetts, Caras was raised in a family that encouraged love of animals. His parents allowed him to foster a menagerie of pets, and during the Depression he went to work at the age of 10 to help pay for his pets' upkeep. His first job, working in the stables of an SPCA shelter, was his first experience with animal rescue in the shelter's haven for abused horses. He completed his education at Boston's Huntington Preparatory School and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army near the end of World War II.

Caras returned to Boston after his tour of duty and then enrolled as a zoology major at Northwestern University. In 1950, he transferred to Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, but interrupted his education for military service again, this time in the Korean War from 1950 to 1952.

Career

Caras returned to civilian life as a West Coast resident, attending the University of Southern California, where he earned a degree, not in zoology but in cinema, and stepped from academic life to executive-level work in the motion picture industry. During 15 years in the film world, Caras held a number of assignments, including serving as press secretary for actress Joan Crawford, and from 1965 to 1969 as vice president of Stanley Kubrick's production company, Hawk Films, working with Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke on the science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey.[1] During his Hollywood years, Caras also launched his writing career, contributing articles on animal and environmental issues to such periodicals as "Audubon" and publishing his first book, "Antarctica: Land of Frozen Time,” in 1962.

In 1964, Caras made his broadcasting debut on the NBC-syndicated program The Today Show, spending nearly a decade as the program's "house naturalist." His skills in broadcasting, research, biology, and zoology led to his acceptance as one of the media's best-regarded animal authorities. He was sought out by the Walt Disney conglomerate as a consultant on their Florida Animal Kingdom park.

Acting as a special correspondent, Caras reported from around the globe on a variety of animal and environmental issues that ranged from exposes on laboratory animals to the plight of the endangered Giant Panda in China and to investigation of the black market commerce in exotic animals and poaching.

Caras spent from 1975 to 1992 as a regularly featured reporter on ABC News with Peter Jennings, as well as contributing to Nightline, 20/20, and Good Morning America. He also hosted radio programs, including Pets and Wildlife on CBS, Report from the World of Animals on NBC, and the ABC series The Living World.

Caras earned countless awards for his work, from honorary degrees to an Emmy Award for his reporting. His books include The Bond and his last book, Going for the Blue: Inside the World of Show Dogs and Dog Shows, which was published in time for the 2001 Westminster competition.

Caras’s tireless work with and on behalf of animals led to his 1991 election as the 14th president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the oldest humane-treatment-of-animals organization in the United States. During his tenure, the ASPCA expanded its care, protection and education programs, and adopted a number of internal practices to improve its work. Caras retired in 1999 and became president emeritus, acting as a consultant and public speaker for the organization.

Death and afterward

Caras made his home in Freeland, Baltimore County, Maryland, where he and his wife, Jill Langdon Barclay, maintained a farm that became home for a variety of animals. In 2001, in the last year of his life, Caras shared his farm with 12 dogs (7 Greyhounds, 3 retrievers and 2 hounds), nine cats, all of mixed origin, five horses, two cows, a pair of alpacas and a llama. After his death, his wife, his son, Dr. Barclay Caras, and daughter, Pamela Caras, requested that people wishing to honor his memory donate memorial contributions to the ASPCA in his name.

Selected works

Books

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Cevasco, George A.; Harmond, Richard P.; Mendelsohn, Everett (2009). Modern American Environmentalists: A Biographical Encyclopedia. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-9152-6.

References

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