West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
In Glenville, New York, there is a low railroad bridge so notorious for getting hit by truck trailers that it has its own Facebook page for chronicling its injuries. None of the local residents understand how drivers fail to see the dozen or so warning signs on the approach. A frequent question is whether truck drivers have (or should have) an app that would help them plan their routes to avoid the hazard.
There was no app for that in 1938. Picture driving across country, hauling a rig bearing two young giraffes. You need 12 feet and 8 inches of clearance to avoid bonking their heads (which would be much messier than crunching the top of a box trailer or shipping container). You’ve scoped the route in advance, but encounter detours that lead to overpasses or tunnels with insufficient clearance. What do you do?
Read West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge to find out what the fictional characters, Woodrow (“Woody”) Wilson Nickel and Riley Jones (“the Old Man”), do. The author has woven a road trip tale around the true fact of two giraffes shipped from Africa who landed in New York after a hurricane to be driven to the San Diego Zoo.
In a memory care facility 80 or so years later, Woody races against advancing dementia and a failing heart to write the story down. He begins with his storm-walloped self waking up in a New York City dockyard after the Great Hurricane of 1938. He observes the offloading of two crated giraffes from a storm-battered freighter, and watches as a “zoo doc” evaluates their condition. After dressing and splinting a leg injury, the doc approves their transport to San Diego.
Woody, a 17-year-old Dust Bowl refugee, had only recently arrived in New York to find his only living relative. That relative’s life claimed by the storm and no reason to stay, Woody decides to follow Riley Jones and the giraffes to San Diego. The legendary “Californy” is the land of every Dust Bowl boy’s dreams.
Early in the journey, Woody keeps his presence a secret but by the end he is part of the team. “Augusta Red,” a young female photographer trying to capture photos to submit to Life magazine, follows in her green Packard and plays an important role in the adventure.
The reader is firmly anchored in 1938 not only by Woody’s Dust Bowl origin but also by newspaper headlines of Hitler’s activities in Europe, references to hobos, train hoppers and the Civilian Conservation Corps, colorful images of a traveling circus, and an incident in a southern “sundown town.” As I read, I found myself envisioning many of the scenes in the sepia hues of antique photographs.
Far from nostalgic, however, are Woody’s nightmarish memories of his youth in the Texas Panhandle. At pivotal moments in the adventure, his trauma impacts his decision-making in ways that aren’t always helpful. Lessons are to be found in the Old Man’s handling of these moments.
I enjoyed this story about friendship, young love, adventure, moving beyond trauma and the bond between humans and animals. In fact, I read all 354 pages in one afternoon. I was out of town and therefore did not attend my local book club meeting where the book was discussed. Good topics would include any family stories passed down from the same time period, the differences between road trips then and now, and whether the giraffes’ relationships with each other and humans alter readers’ perception of non-domestic animals.
As both the number of giraffes and the number of people who can remember the pre-WW II era dwindle, it’s books like this that illuminate the importance of both the animal kingdom and human history for modern-day readers. Next time you see a centenarian, imagine the life he or she may have lived, with uncharted adventures so different from what we experience today.