Fur-Bearing Pharmacists: 1992
This was the first piece on zoopharmacognosy
I wrote way back in 1992. I did it as an intern at Animals Magazine while
going to Northeastern at night in Boston. It was part of my final
project for school, too. It only took three drafts, but it led to a promotion at
the magazine, which put me on the staff, it peaked the interests of an
editor at Technology Review,
and it was also cited as a source in a letter to the editor in the
British Medical Journal (which I'll post here eventually). I never
thought I'd see my name in such a prestigious medical publication as
the British Medical Journal, but there it is. Pretty cool. I just
tripped over the reference while doing some research for another
article, actually. A happy surprise for sure. Looking back at this article after all these years, I think it holds up pretty well. I'd only change a few things, but then again I rarely have the desire to re-write stuff. I remember arguing with the editors for another page of space, but this particular issue in the magazine was too full and I was too junior to get that extra page. So I had to cut. Damn. It's always painful to cut your own stuff. That's why we have editors, I suppose. I do miss writing articles like this, though. I had great fun interviewing the biologists who study these animals who use medicinal plans.
