We recently connected with Georgeanne Irvine and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Georgeanne, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Ever since I was a child and throughout my life, I’ve always been a storyteller. When I starting working in public relations for the San Diego Zoo nearly 47 years ago, the opportunity to become a voice for our wildlife and our worldwide conservation efforts became first and foremost in my career as well as a life-long passion. While I was in the public relations department and then the philanthropy division, I freelanced nearly 20 children’s books about animals for publishers like Simon & Schuster and Scholastic. Now I am the director of publishing for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, overseeing a variety of book projects but also writing our award-winning, non-fiction Hope & Inspiration children’s book collection.

The Hope & Inspiration books are true stories, illustrated with photos, about real animals that live or have lived at the San Diego Zoo or San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Many of the animals in these books have overcome challenges in their lives. The concept of the book collection is to connect children with individual animals and their stories, like Karen the orangutan, Omeo the koala, Tornero the two-toed sloth, or Moka the tiger. When kids get to know and relate to these animals, the hope is that they will be inspired to care about that animal, the animals’ species, other wildlife, and conservation.

I want my legacy to be about enlightening, energizing, and empowering children as well as adults—through my books—to protect our Earth, its wildlife and its extraordinary habitats, which are disappearing at an alarming rate. My dear friend Jane Goodall once told me that if we would only give Mother Earth a chance, she will heal. She also said if everybody did something—no matter how small—to protect our planet, that together we could save our precious Earth. Hopefully, my books will play a role in galvanizing people to take action to preserve and protect nature and make our world a better, healthier place for all of its inhabitants.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a child, I slept with a dozen plush animals on my bed—a lion, two teddy bears, a monkey, an elephant and more. As a native San Diegan, I grew up going to the San Diego Zoo. I also explored the canyon that was behind my childhood home. In addition, I was enthusiastic about life, interested in everything, and loved sharing stories about the things I had learned and discovered. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism at San Diego State University and on my 21st birthday, a sorority sister gave me a Curious George monkey as a gift, which still sits on my bookshelf today. All of this was indicative of what was to come: my lifelong career with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a voice and a champion for wildlife and conservation.

I celebrate 47 years with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in March 2025. I have had three different careers with the Zoo throughout my tenure—but all of them have involved sharing stories and inspiring people to care about wildlife and conservation and to support the work we do. My first 22 years were spent in public relations, where I served as a media spokesperson; the editor and writer of our children’s publication, Koala Club News; a liaison with television talk shows, including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; a coordinator for film crews; and more. That was followed by more than 16 years in philanthropy, where I led a communications team that created the fundraising collateral we used to raise more than $80 million per year. I am now our director of publishing, overseeing a variety of book projects for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press and writing our non-fiction Hope & Inspiration book collection for children.

The vision of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is to “create a world where all life thrives.” I’m proud to share and be a part of fulfilling that vision through my writing and storytelling efforts. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a nonprofit conservation leader, inspires passion for nature and collaboration for a healthier world. The Alliance supports innovative conservation science through global partnerships. Through wildlife care, science expertise and collaboration, more than 44 endangered species have been reintroduced to native habitats. Annually, the Alliance reaches over 1 billion people, in person at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and virtually in 150 countries through media channels, including San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers television programming in children’s hospitals in 14 countries. Wildlife Allies—members, donors and guests—make success possible. I am honored to be a part of such an incredible organization that is making a difference in our world!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I started at the San Diego Zoo as a public relations assistant in March 1978, I thought I would stay with the organization for a few years and then move onward and upward. After a few weeks on the job, I realized that working for the Zoo was not only fun, exciting, and fascinating but also meaningful. I quickly learned that wildlife and their habitats were in danger of disappearing and that I could help make a difference in their future by becoming a voice for the animals and a champion for wildlife conservation. Plus I got to work with extraordinary colleagues, who had dedicated their lives to working with and saving wildlife. I never wanted to go anywhere else and am now celebrating nearly 47 years with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Inspiring children and adults to care about wildlife and conservation through storytelling is what drives me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Receiving positive feedback about my books from children, parents, and teachers is the most rewarding aspect of my work. When they tell me how inspired they are by the Hope & Inspiration stories, I thrive and am inspired to write more books. Also, when our wildlife care and veterinary teams tell me that I got the story right about the animals in their care, I am overjoyed. I am also thrilled when parents send me photos of their children with the books. I have found that kids are not only inspired to love wildlife through the Hope & Inspiration books but they also learn life lessons, such as being brave, never giving up, and the value of special friendships.

Some examples of feedback:

Many parents write to me about Karen’s Heart: The True Story of a Brave Baby Orangutan, which is a story about a baby orangutan at San Diego Zoo, who had a hole in her heart and survived open heart surgery. I receive many comments similar to this one: “I just have to tell you how much my daughter and I have enjoyed your book, “Karen’s Heart.” I bought her the book and plush last week and we’ve read it every night!!! My daughter has had two open heart surgeries. She was an infant when the surgeries were performed but she is aware she had them. Your book has given my daughter a perspective of her surgeries that I have had difficulty explaining to her.”

One grandmother sent me a detailed story about her newborn grandson, who had a heart attack when he was 10 weeks old. Thankfully, the boy survived after several open heart surgeries and is now in grade school. The grandma explained how meaningful the Karen’s Heart book is to her “miracle grandson.” A man from Ireland wrote to me about his son loving the Karen orangutan book so much that he calls every orangutan a “Karen-utan.” Also, a colleague and her niece bonded over Fabulous Floyd: The True Story of a Flamingo Who Never Gave Up. Her niece is now in love with flamingos and calls every flamingo that she sees Floyd!

At book signings and community talks, children tell me that the books have inspired them to become veterinarians or wildlife care specialists. One child walked up, hugged me and then told me that she loves me and loves all animals. Two young brothers sent me their Powerpoint book report about Ruuxa & Raina: A Cheetah and Dog’s True Story of Friendship and Miracles.

In 2023, I received a letter from teachers at Bourne Primary School in Eastbourne, England, telling me how they used the Fabulous Floyd book “to launch a new initiative with the children called ‘Give it a go Flamingo.’ We wanted to help the children understand the importance of having resilience and not giving up – just like Floyd.” I was brought to tears when I opened a package that was included with the letter–it contained 55 handwritten notes from the kids, letting me know how much they loved Floyd the flamingo and how his story taught them to never give up on anything that was important to them in life.

The bottom line: When readers’ hearts are touched by the animals featured in the Hope & Inspiration books, my heart is touched, too. And when they are inspired by the stories, I am inspired to write more books about wildlife.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sdzwa.org
• Instagram: @SanDiegoZoo and @Sdzsafaripark
• Facebook: @SanDiegoZoo and @Sdzsafaripark
• Linkedin: Georgeanne Irvine
• Twitter: @SanDiegoZoo and @Sdzsafaripark

Image Credits

The photo of me holding the Teaching Tornero book with Tornero the sloth and me holding the Amazing Omeo book with Omeo the koala were shot by Ken Bohn of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The other photos were shot by friends and family.