17 Sep 2017 ‘Jungle’ Jack Hanna

by Brenda McClain

“He cannot bring bugs to a cooking show,” Florence Henderson’s show producer Melissa Cross told me. This might be a problem. Jack never goes anywhere without his animals.

So, I reminded him right up until his cue to enter – no animals. 

“Are Hissing Madagascar Cockroaches considered animals?” Too late, he just placed one, oops, now two on Florence Henderson’s silk shirt. They are crawling all over her; she looks mortified, still smiling and stirring that casserole recipe.  

The studio audience is howling. Of course, they were. It was television at its finest. Genuine laughter. Authentic television. 

When Jack was named one of People magazine’s Most Beautiful People, it was a friend and animal-lover Betty White who said she was wild about his “firm, strong hands.” She adds, “I’ve seen the way he handles animals. He’s the only one I know who can put a beetle on your shoulder, and you’ll hold still for it.”

Cue Florence, describing to Larry King of Jack’s appearance on her show, “He put them on my breast, to be exact.”

Bo Derek has said he’s a 10. Could it be that animal magnetism?

It was Jack who was “gobsmacked” when, while guest-hosting Prime Time Country on the then Nashville Network show, had Eddie Rabbit as one of his guests.  Before I could get my photo of Jack and Eddie signed by Eddie, he died of cancer.  

A client of my small public relations agency, we represented Jack during my time in Nashville, Tenn. Our relationship goes back further than Nashville, to Little Rock. Jack’s father, Ross, my father, Kenneth, and Ken Kavanaugh were friends and played football together at Little Rock Central and later at LSU. They remained friends until their deaths.  

It’s a full-circle moment when Jack comes to the University of Central Arkansas this month. I could not be more thrilled to see my friend. You will love him as much as I do, silly as it sounds, Jack Hanna IS the real deal.