Porridge Poetry
Hugh Lofting, the son of an architectural engineer, was born on January 14, 1886, in Maidenhead, England, into a family of five boys and one girl, many of whom wanted to pursue artistic careers. His father encouraged all his children's artistic inclinations but insisted each be trained in a profession they could rely on to make a living in the event the artistic endeavors did not work out. Civil engineering was Hugh Lofting's choice, but not because of any love of the profession. ...The First World War put him into the trenches of France as a combat engineer in the Irish Guards, one of the British Army's elite regiments.  Of the many horrors of war that the young second lieutenant experienced, he found the part animals played in combat particularly disturbing. There was no veterinarian service in the WWI British Army, despite the fact that horses, dogs, pigeons and assorted other animals were used extensively at the front, often wounded and killed, and rarely if ever cared for. The sacrifices animals made in the war effort came to mind when Hugh Lofting prepared to write home to his two young children, Colin and Elizabeth. With daily life in the trenches providing few topics appropriate for children, his imagination created a doctor who could speak to animals via the translations of Polynesia, a 183-year-old African gray parrot. Thus, the start of the Doctor Dolittle stories.    Lofting died in 1947. CO -AUTHOR Christopher Lofting wrote the introduction that doubles as a tribute to his famous dad. Chris' own writing career includes the following: ---Nationally syndicated business travel columnist writing The Executive Traveler for 11 years appearing weekly in The Journal of Commerce and 200-plus member papers of the KNT Newswire. ---Writes and edits The New York Times' Business Travel Outlook, Cruise Vacations, The Caribbean, etc. --Travel staff for the New York Daily News editing and writing the On the Road Again-- For Business Travelers as well as Budget Tips and related editorial work. --Contributing writer to National Geographic Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Travel Holiday, Travel Agent, ASTA Agency Management, Frequent Flyer, Town & Country, Currents, Car & Travel, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg Personal, etc. --In-house science department staff editor on manned space coverage for LIFE magazine during the years just prior to the first man on the moon landing. --Co-founder and first managing editor of Vista USA, a travel magazine produced by Humble Oil and Refining, now Exxon. --Travel editor and on-air host on segments for NBC 's all-news radio News and Information Service ---Travel editor for WABC-TV A.M. New York show, U.S. travel correspondent for the BBC World Service, East Coast correspondent for Travel Show on KABC radio in Los Angeles. Co-host, Liberty Travel's TravelWorld, WEVD radio New York. --Host, The Travel Show WOR, New York and 75 stations of the WOR Radio Network.