Georgia Magazine

Tell A Friend about Animal ambassador

Your Email required

Your Name required

To required

Subject required

Your email message will read: this text is not editable
This message was sent from Georgia Magazine (http://uga.edu/gm/). Animal ambassador - Closeups March 2012 Issue In August, Betty Jean Craige retired from UGA. After 38 years, the University professor of comparative literature and director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts was ready for a change. “I wanted to retire before I deteriorated in front of my students,” she says, smiling. “It was a race against time!” Craige hasn’t lost her passion for education. She’s no longer in the classroom, but she’s still teaching. And she has a partner—Cosmo, her 10-year-old African Grey parrot. Last year Craige published the memoir Conversations with Cosmo: At Home with an African Grey Parrot. The book details how Craige’s relationship with Cosmo began as an exploration into language acquisition and turned into something more profound. “I got Cosmo thinking I’d have a hobby,” Craige says. “What I got was a housemate, and a good friend.” “I find myself arguing with this little feathery person that’s six inches tall.” Like most African Greys, Cosmo was 1 year old when she … Read full article at http://uga.edu/gm/ee/index.php?/single/2012/03/1415/.