Packy and Me: The Incredible Tale of Doc Maberry and the Baby Elephant Who Made History

On April 14, 1962, the birth of a precocious pachyderm captivated the world. The elephant--Portland, Oregon's own Packy--garnered national and international attention as the first-ever captive elephant born in an American zoo. In the face of an unpopular war in Vietnam and rising racial tensions, America needed a distraction. And now, more than forty years later, the man at the center of this epic story, Dr. Matthew Maberry, is here with the inside details. In Packy & Me, Dr. Maberry, the Oregon Zoo's first-ever full-time vet, delivers a riveting account of Packy's birth, the false labors, the lack of information, and the ever-present worldwide media camped out to report the latest on mother Belle. Maberry captures the moment with a journalistic sense of authenticity and a deep compassion for nature and the animals in his care. Complete with newspaper clippings and photos, this scrapbook is sure to educate and captivate audiences all over again. It's a story that you, like the proverbial elephant, won't soon forget.

Dr. Matthew Maberry was born in 1917 in Seattle, Washington. In 1947, he graduated from veterinary school at Washington State University. Dr. Maberry—better known as Doc—spent most of the next 11 years in private practice before becoming the first full-time vet at what now is known as the Oregon Zoo. Doc has experienced many amazing moments in his life—bobbing eye to eye in the ocean with a killer whale, traveling the world in search of exotic animals, doctoring critters of every kind. But his life’s pinnacle occurred on April 14, 1962, when Belle the elephant gave birth to Packy, Oregon’s much beloved mascot. Packy was the first captive elephant born in 44 years, and Doc unleashed the secret of how it’s done. With Doc in his 90s and Packy nearing 50 the birth still resonates as one of the zoo world’s greatest triumphs.