Malcolm J. Brenner

Eyes Open Media

Today’s Date: April 8, 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Undoubtedly, it was communicating with, being courted by, and ultimately making love with, a female bottlenose dolphin when I was a college student in the early 1970's. I wish I could say the story had a happy ending, but it didn't.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Yes. I grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey. In the scrubland woods nearby there was an odd little mound with a sapling growing out of it, and wrapped around the sapling, like a constrictor snake, was a thick vine. The kids called it "Snaky Hollow," and it was reputed to be a place of mystery and magic. It inspired me to write a screenplay (unproduced).

Now? I like it where I live, in a mostly-undeveloped part of southwest Florida. When I lived in the southwest (1992-2002) the most awesome place was the volcanic pinnacle of Shiprock (Tsé-bit-A'i) on the Navajo Nation.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

See (1) above. Dolphins are the only other animal I have found that can relate to us on an equal footing.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Now: reducing the human population before we do irreparable damage to the ecosystem. In the future: preventing asteroid impacts. They can f*@k up things worse in one millisecond than we can in 1,000 years.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Live your life as if your great-grandchildren's lives will depend on everything you do today. Or, as the Navajos say, "Consider the results of your actions unto the seventh generation."