Viewing page 25 of 56

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

24

HENSON: Yes, you got very involved in aquaria and aquarium fish, right?

MANN: Yes. One time when I was up in New York, I went to see my friends on the [[underlined]] Woman's Home Companion [[/underlined]]. They showed me an article they were working on on keeping goldfish. So I said, "Oh, goldfish. Why don't you have an article on tropical fish, they're much more interesting." They said, "You write us one." which I did. I wrote an article on tropical fish. It was illustrated by Stephen Haweis, who was an artist friend of ours--he did several of the pictures that I have here in the apartment--and illustrated it beautifully. A few weeks later, shortly after the article was published in the [[underlined]] Companion [[/underlined]], I got a letter from an outfit called Leisure League. I said, "Leisure League, I haven't got any leisure." But I opened it and they wanted me to do a book on tropical fish. When Bill came home I said, "Look at this, isn't this the silliest thing you ever saw, they want me to do a book on tropical fish. I don't know enough to write a book." Bill said, "The best way to learn about something is to write a book about it." So he persuaded me to write the book on tropical fish. That was back in the 1930's, and it's just gone out of print in the last year or two. It ran for about forty years, one revision after another.

HENSON: Yes, there's a '74 edition I noticed. The one I read had come out in 1974.

MANN: Yes, there was a slight revision in 1974. Then they wanted me to do a really complete revision, and I had Dr. [Stanley H.]