I noticed an interesting coincidence recently: two very different men with very different lives and outlooks share the same birthdate.
The automobile engineer and executive John DeLorean was born on January 6th 1925 in Detroit; the author, naturalist, zoo keeper and wildlife conservationist Gerald Durrell was born in India on January 7th 1925. Allowing for time differences, they were born at much the same time – and under the sign of Capricorn.
One appears to be on the whole one of the good guys, the other was a fraudster. From his obituary in The Guardian:
“Almost everyone who had business dealings with car-maker John DeLorean … suffered either money losses in the millions, public vilification for the vanished cash, or both. Through all this turbulence, DeLorean remained unscathed: even if he did lose a fortune, he had not been entitled to it in the first place… DeLorean was a world-class conman, despite a brilliant early engineering career at General Motors. Among his victims of fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion or defaulted loans, were the governments of Britain, the US, and Switzerland…”
The automobile engineer and executive John DeLorean was born on January 6th 1925 in Detroit; the author, naturalist, zoo keeper and wildlife conservationist Gerald Durrell was born in India on January 7th 1925. Allowing for time differences, they were born at much the same time – and under the sign of Capricorn.
One appears to be on the whole one of the good guys, the other was a fraudster. From his obituary in The Guardian:
“Almost everyone who had business dealings with car-maker John DeLorean … suffered either money losses in the millions, public vilification for the vanished cash, or both. Through all this turbulence, DeLorean remained unscathed: even if he did lose a fortune, he had not been entitled to it in the first place… DeLorean was a world-class conman, despite a brilliant early engineering career at General Motors. Among his victims of fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion or defaulted loans, were the governments of Britain, the US, and Switzerland…”
John DeLorean called the British government ‘suckers’ and his Irish workers ‘dummies’; Gerald Durrell built good relationships with various authorities and made friends with and allies of ordinary people wherever he went.
John DeLorean ruined the livelihoods of many people; Durrell saved several species from extinction.
DeLorean appears to have been all take, and everything he did was to benefit and promote himself; he seems to me to have been the sort of person who wants fame, fortune and the jet-setting, celebrity-filled life for their own sakes and flaunts his belongings and lifestyle to make the peasants feel wiped out.
Durrell did everything for the sake of the wildlife and his zoo; he shared his life, his travels and expedition experiences and his animal collections with everyone via his unforgettable books, which entertain and inform and have given good feelings to millions of people.
Some episodes are hysterically funny; I found one of his books in a charity shop while on a day trip and bought it to read on the return journey. I had to stop as it was just too funny to read in public.
Durrell’s books make the reader feel that they were actually there, living in Corfu as described in My Family and Other Animals or travelling in Cameroon, which he wrote about in A Zoo in My Luggage; I feel as though I have made several African expeditions, met the Fon of Bafut and captured wild animals myself.
“My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.”
From My Family and Other Animals
He had the craft, and while he could not give he certainly could and did share not only his childhood but everything else. DeLorean gave the world the gift of his gull-wing door car. I think that Durrell’s books and life’s work are the greater gift.
John Delorean died in Summit, New Jersey (so he did actually get right to the top!); Gerald Durrell died in Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Some episodes are hysterically funny; I found one of his books in a charity shop while on a day trip and bought it to read on the return journey. I had to stop as it was just too funny to read in public.
Durrell’s books make the reader feel that they were actually there, living in Corfu as described in My Family and Other Animals or travelling in Cameroon, which he wrote about in A Zoo in My Luggage; I feel as though I have made several African expeditions, met the Fon of Bafut and captured wild animals myself.
“My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.”
From My Family and Other Animals
He had the craft, and while he could not give he certainly could and did share not only his childhood but everything else. DeLorean gave the world the gift of his gull-wing door car. I think that Durrell’s books and life’s work are the greater gift.
John Delorean died in Summit, New Jersey (so he did actually get right to the top!); Gerald Durrell died in Jersey in the Channel Islands.
