Joy Adamson: A long safari from Opava to Keyna, from Zuzana Beranova

Joy Adamson: A long safari from Opava to Keyna, from Zuzana Beranova.

The biography which you are now holding in your hands tries to capture Joy Adamson's 'safari' from her native Opava to Africa as truthfully as possible. It is the result of eight years of research which author Zuzana Beranova did in Kenya and other countries.

Zuzana Beranova  

l have two things in common with Joy Adamson - I come from Opava as she did and I became fond of Kenya and Africa. The influence that Joy Adamson's books had on millions of people, also influenced me to take the journey to this African country. The same things were waiting for me there as for her - beautiful nature with a constant threat of danger. In Kenya I struggled with my own exhaustion, I was robbed and hurt several times and once I was even brutally attacked. But, my fascination with Joy started at a much earlier when I, being a child, passed her house of birth in Opava every day on my way to elementary school. I left for Kenya in 2001 and worked there for more than four years as a consul in the Czech Embassy. Kenya entranced me and I was grateful to Joy Adamson for inspiring me to see this gorgeous country. To redeem the debt, I organized an exhibition for the Embassy under the title of "Joy Adamson - Inspiring Childhood" which reminded people of her roots - her childhood and youth spent in the Opava Region where she lived till she was twelve. Together with the National Museum of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service we introduced the exhibition over several years all over Kenya where 130 000 visitors came to see it. During the exhibitions I met a number of interesting people who knew Joy Adamson personally and so, more and more interesting information about Joy came to me. The picture of her personality started to take shape - a talented, courageous but also complicated and emotional woman who suffered from mental problems. I therefore had the dilemma about whether to mention some of the more unflattering facts about her life, but a biography should reflect reality. Moreover, in the case of Joy, her complicated character became the driving force for projects from which we are still benefiting from today. The story of Joy as a nature conservationist started at the moment when George brought her Elsa, a female lion cub, when he shot her mother in self-defense when she had furiously attacked him in order to protect her young. Joy took care of Elsa and gave her back to the wild. During this unique experiment she took down notes which she used in the bestseller "Born Free" published in 1960. The immediate success of the book was also backed by the timing. Europe had just recovered from the hardships of the Second World War and people were thirsty for a positive direction that could assure them that life urns beautiful and had many different dimensions. The readers were also touched by one more aspect. The story of Elsa is a love story. An open, pure and deep love. Joy loved Elsa and Elsa, in return, trusted her limitlessly. The proverb that love moves mountains proved to be true when Joy, by means of her strong feelings for Elsa, got over the ancient fear of dangerous animals which is deeply rooted in human genes. Pippa, the cheetah, was another beast which Joy returned to the wilderness. Before the experiment, Joy introduced her in New Stanley, a Nairobi hotel, where this pampered and timid cat was mannerly lying on the table and sipping lemonade with a straw. But Joy Adamson brought her up to be a predator again which could then chase after her prey on the plains of the African savannah at a speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour. When Joy was occupied with the experiment with the female leopard on the Shaba Reserve, she was working on another book - "Queen of Shaba" - because everything suggested that the rehabilitation of this beast would be successful as well. Although her friends warned her before the experiment that in her seventies she should not to start the project with the insidious leopard, she did not listen. She always trusted nature more than people. In the end, she did not finish the book because she was brutally murdered. Joy Adamson died tragically twenty eight years ago. Is her story interesting for readers even today? I think so, because the story of Joy Adamson contains a deep and universal message. [...]

This is an excerpt from the biography: Joy Adamson: A long safari from Opava to Keyna, from Zuzana Beranova.

Title: Joy Adamson
Subtitle: A long safari from Opava to Keyna
Author: Zuzana Beranova
Publisher: Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic, Prag 2008
ISBN 9788025435892 / ISBN 978-80-254-3589-2
Hardcover, 15 x 21 cm, 239 pages, numerous b/w and colour photos