Gerald Durrell was a man of many talents; zookeeper, television show host, conservationist and naturalist, founder of the Jersey Zoo in the British Channel Islands and author; it is in the latter role that he found the most success and for which he became the best known.
My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical novel that deals mainly with Durrell's early childhood, spent with his brothers and widowed mother on the Greek island of Corfu. Durrell's memories are told in a humorous way giving the book a comedic air. At the same time it is a book about Greek's natural beauty as Durrell awakens a lifelong passion for botany and explores the flora and fauna of the island. Many of the stories told in the book relate go Gerald's brother Laurence, who became a celebrated and awarded travel writer in his own right.
The book is the first in a trilogy known as the Corfu Trilogy; after the publication of My Family and Other Animals in 1956, Birds, Beasts and Relatives followed fourteen years later, with the final book in the series, Garden of the Gods, published in 1978. Usually, writing was a difficult process for him but when it came to writing about his Corfu childhood the words flowed easily, because of his fond remembrance of events and his passion for the island on which he grew up. The book was an instant success, loved by generation after generation.
In 1987 the book was adapted for television, and another adaptation was presented by the BBC in 2005. A series called The Durrells followed in 2016 and ran for three years. Although Durrell wrote forty other books, this was the most famous and beloved by the public. The main reason for their popularity was Durrell's special ability to laugh at himself, while narrating the book as if he was still a twelve year old boy.
Many of the jokes in the book were at his brother's expense but despite this the two were close for their entire lives. Although both were successful authors, Laurence's novels were far less humorous than Gerald's; he also produced a coffee table book about the Greek Islands, complete with photographs taken in his childhood. Gerald also stated that the two brothers wrote for entirely different reasons; Laurence, because he loved to write for writing's sake, and Gerald, so that the royalties that came from his book sales could support his Foundation's conservations projects.
In 1982, Durrell received an OBE and was also placed on the United Nations Role of Honor for his dedication and achievement to conservation education. He passed away in January 1995.
