000			01732nam a2200241 a 4500
001			067455
005			20231009193441.0
008			130910s2005 usaa a 001 0deng
010			_a2004051356
020			_a9780375507830
042			_apcc
050	0	0	_aQL737.C214 _bC76 2005
082	1		_a599.789 CRO
100	1		_aCroke, Vicki Constantine
245	1	4	_aThe lady and the panda _b: the true adventures of the first American explorer to bring back China's most exotic animal _c/ Vicki Constantine Croke
260			_aNew York _b: Random House _c, 2005
300			_a372 p. _b: illus. _c; 25 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index
520			_aRuth Harkness was a Manhattan socialite, newly married to a wealthy adventurer. Weeks after their wedding, he decamped for China in hopes of becoming the first Westerner to capture the most mysterious animal of the day, a giant panda -- an expedition on which many had failed miserably. Bill was also to fail, dying alone in China and leaving his widow adrift. In 1936, Ruth adopted her husband's dream as her own. In decadent Shanghai, white male explorers scorned her, so she chose as her partner a 22-year-old Chinese explorer as unconventional as she was, who would join her in a romance as torrid as it was taboo. Traveling across some of the toughest terrain in the world, where China borders Tibet, they raced against a traitorous rival, and were threatened by hordes of bandits and hostile natives. The voyage cost Ruth everything she had, but when she returned with a baby panda, the story became an international sensation. No animal in history had gotten such attention.
600	1	0	_aHarkness, Ruth
650		0	_aGiant panda
942			_cMO
999			_c271655 _d271655