Roger A. Caras
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. "Animals are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" -Roger Caras 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 "". 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 News 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 Evening News  (later World News Tonight 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 won 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 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.