The Lady And the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series) - Hardcover

Advance Praise for "THE LADY AND THE PANDA

"A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke's canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story."
-ROBERT KURSON, author of "Shadow Divers
"Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing."
-JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of "When Elephants Weep
"Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke's hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world's most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read."
-STELLA DONG, author of "Shanghai

"From the Hardcover edition.

Advance Praise for "THE LADY AND THE PANDA"

"A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke's canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story."
-ROBERT KURSON, author of "Shadow Divers"
"Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing."
-JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of "When Elephants Weep"
"Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke's hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world's most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read."
-STELLA DONG, author of "Shanghai"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Advance Praise for "THE LADY AND THE PANDA"
"A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke's canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story."
-ROBERT KURSON, author of "Shadow Divers"

"Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing."
-JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of "When Elephants Weep"

"Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke's hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world's most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read."
-STELLA DONG, author of "Shanghai"
"From the Hardcover edition."

Advance Praise for "THE LADY AND THE PANDA"

A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke s canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story.
ROBERT KURSON, author of "Shadow Divers"
Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing.
JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of "When Elephants Weep"
Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke s hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world s most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read.
STELLA DONG, author of "Shanghai"

"From the Hardcover edition.""

Advance Praise for THE LADY AND THE PANDA

"A remarkable journey beautifully described, The Lady and the Panda brings to life one of the most astonishing and overlooked stories of American adventure, the 1936 quest by Ruth Harkness to bring a giant panda to America. Vicki Constantine Croke's canvas is the mystical and wondrous China of the 1930s, her heroine a most remarkable woman, and her gift the ability to understand that this is a great love story."
-ROBERT KURSON, author of Shadow Divers

"Mesmerizing. Vicki Croke has done a magnificent job of immersing the reader in an absolutely fascinating world. I found myself completely absorbed and could not stop reading. Amazing."
-JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of When Elephants Weep

"Ruth Harkness, the New York socialite who journeyed into the wilds of China to bring the Giant Panda to America, now has the biography she deserves. In Croke's hands, the intrepid American woman and the con men, dreamers, and adventurers who joined her in pursuit of the world's most exotic animal spring vividly to life. Part Hemingway, part Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Panda Hunter is a rare blend of adventure, biography, and zoology. A deeply satisfying read."
-STELLA DONG, author of Shanghai

From the Hardcover edition.

Vicki Constantine Croke has been exploring animal life for more than two decades--tracking the fossa in Madagascar, polar bears in the Arctic Circle, and Tasmanian devils in, of course, Tasmania. She now covers creatures great and small for WBUR-FM, Boston's NPR news station, on air and as The Animalist online. Her work there earned a 2013 regional Edward R. Murrow Award. She is the author of The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal, The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos--Past, Present and Future, and Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II. Croke has worked on nature documentaries for Disney and for the A&E channel and anchored The Secret Life of Animals on NECN-TV. She also wrote The Boston Globe's "Animal Beat" column for for thirteen years, and has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The London Sunday Telegraph, Time, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, Gourmet, National Wildlife, and Discover magazine, among others. She lives in the Boston area.

From the Hardcover edition.