Q: You talked about his fame a little bit. Did you ever feel that
growing up?
JL: Well, it was restricting in a sense. My parents were worried about too
much public attention, the kidnapping was always sort of in the background.
So, I would say it was extreme, but it was always there. I don't think any of
us had the freedom to mix around with the local neighborhood, as my children
for instance did. There was so much, you know, intense public pressure
and attention in those early years. It was real.
Q: Do you think he paid a price for the fame?
JL: Well, he certainly paid a price in the fame that went with it, and it
encouraged a great deal of attention. And he got tired of that fairly quickly
and was never able easily to get away from it. And he had a very strong wish
to get away from it from time to time. It gave him a lot of advantages when he
went to try and talk to you know, the President of Peru or the President of the
Philippines to try set aside, natural parks, or to reduce the amount of
whaling. The background of the flight, and the fact that he was so well known,
gave him quite an edge there. But, he was also a very private individual and
didn't like to have people hovering over him all the time.
Q: In a way, the only thing that he was willing to go back into the
limelight for was conservation.
JL: Yes. In the last half of his life, he felt that it was important enough,
that it was worth it. He had enough attention in technical things he was doing
and he was just as happy if nobody knew about it. But, he hoped the
conservation need to be emphasized. Twenty years ago, thirty years ago it
wasn't. Now, you know, a lot of people know about it, thirty years ago nobody
paid any attention to it. And he felt that it was very important that that
concept be recognized--that we begin to look at what's happening in this world.
And what perhaps we can do to elevate some of the more dangerous
developments.
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