Andrea Campbell with Ziggy, photo courtesy of Ms. Campbell and used with her permission
In Part One of my interview with Andrea Campbell, we talked about how it was she came to be a foster monkey-mom to Ziggy, a capuchin monkey. In Part Two she dished about monkeys in the home. We conclude the series with Ms. Campbell answering questions about all the ways Ziggy impacted her life.
Courtney Mroch: What was your biggest trial with Ziggy?
Andrea Campbell: “Biggest trial” I keep saying to myself. Hmmm . . . there are so many to choose from. Okay, give me two. The first would be, for me, (now my family will have others), but, mine is learning to dominate. Since I grew up as a little girl playing with dollies and making nice to all my things, and, later nurturing my own babies, it was hard to learn how to dominate with love.
Domination is key for certain primates. There has to be a boss. A hierarchy. But you want a boss that leads with respect, and with monkeys that means no screaming, no hitting, and no extreme actions or depravations. Even though you’d like to cuff that monkey sometimes, it’s wrong. Do NOT back a capuchin into a corner; their middle name is persistence and someone will either get hurt or fail to thrive. If you get tired of them and ignore them, they will develop aberrations. If you think this sounds complicated, wait until it happens to you. And then you will know how complicated!
The next trial was explaining to my kids why attention-to-them fell behind hers. That’s a tough thing to experience.
CM: Did you name Ziggy, or did she come to you already named? If you named her, why Ziggy?
AC: Ah, this part worked out great. Ziggy was born on Discovery Island in Walt Disney World, Florida. (They used to help support a breeding colony for Helping Hands. No longer, it’s now Southwick Zoo in Boston). Anyway, when the veterinarian was checking Zig and preparing her “health certificate” (need it for traveling), they called to ask, “What’s her name?”
My husband came up with Ziggy, (I think he might have been looking at the cartoon character with the pin-dot eyes in the comics at the time), and the kids liked it and so did I, so the baby monkey had a name! In hindsight, I still love the name and she was Ziggy. The kids changed it to the “Zigster” (instead of sister) sometimes, so it was always perfect.
CM: What’s your funniest Ziggy story?
AC: Well, monks are expensive to raise: formula, bedding, collars, toys, special cages, diapers, etc., and I thought we could recoup some of our funds if we won America’s Funniest Videos. So my plan was to have the kids build a village in my mom’s garage (she lived next door at the time), and then film Ziggy knocking it down. You know, like King Kong might.
Well, the kids used play mats, and Erector sets and Legos, and just about every building block-thing you can imagine. Their play city was very cool. Speaking of cool, it was November. My mom’s garage was cold. And when we let the monkey go, she didn’t want to have anything to do with going to the center of the garage or the stupid play village. She ran around the outside and we wasted a lot of useless film on a monkey running around a crummy garage. What idiot’s we were to think that we could get Ziggy to do our bidding! True events with monkeys unveil themselves naturally, and at the weirdest times.
CM: Did you ever have anything interesting happen just because you had Ziggy? If so, what?
AC: I’ll say. One day I got a call from a television producer. There was a game show on national network television during the daytime called, “To Tell The Truth.” It’s a wonderful game and based upon an earlier successful model. Anyway, the gist of it is, there are three people all claiming to be Andrea Campbell, and a celebrity panel has a limited time to ask the three Andreas questions, to ferret out the “real” Andrea Campbell from their answers, body language and so forth.
One of the panelists was Meshach Taylor who played Anthony Bouvier on Designing Women, one was a beautiful black woman from Baywatch, a black female radio personality in LA, and Greg Proops, from “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” Paula Poundstone happened to be missing that day. And you won’t believe who the host was! John O’Hurley. There’re photos from the show on my web site. Look under the “real Andrea Campbell” link.
It was a rip because at the CBS production studio, no one knew who the real one was, not the makeup artist, the mike guy, no one except the producers. So they would call out my name, and three people would respond. Also, the girls who played me did their homework: they read my book, they asked intelligent questions, and I brought a tape of Zig so they knew some generalities. It was so much fun and I won $1300 (one guest guessed correctly) and the trip was comped too. I also got the opportunity to meet my book’s editor, Brenda Scott Royce. (She has a fiction title out called Monkey Love based in large part on the behaviors of me and Zig.)
In addition, I’ve been on many television and radio shows because of the book.
CM: Has there been anything special that’s happened to you because you had Ziggy and related your experiences about it in your book?
AC: Yes. Helping Hands thought enough of me to make me a kind of “spokesperson.” I gave talks at libraries, schools, and other functions. I spoke to kids about quadriplegics and how to protect their necks against becoming one. (Kids shouldn’t dive into unknown waters, emulate wrestlers, etc.) And I also helped HH with their Southern applicants. If someone in my region wanted to be a foster family, they came to my house and got the low-down firsthand. I was responsible for putting several people “on program” and happy to do it.
CM: Do you ever see Ziggy now? Do you keep tabs on her and how she is??
AC: No. I agreed to respect the recipient’s privacy. I can get photographs and reports via the agency. Zig will have a lifetime of the best vet care and the connections to the facility are very strong. That makes me feel better.
Yes, it was difficult parting with Zig after 13 YEARS; but I knew what the end result would be, and how much it means to the quadriplegics to have a companion who provides helpful duties, and unlimited love for the rest of their life. It’s a real psychological lift to know you’re loved by a monkey!
CM: I think that’s all the questions I have.
AC: Thanks for the opportunity to tell our story.
CM: Thank you for sharing it!