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Interview With Jeff Corwin

Aired November 10, 2003 - 15:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are going to take a walk on the wild side now with a connoisseur of creatures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF CORWIN, ANIMAL PLANET: See those sharp teeth? He will bite you if you get too close. Lucky for me, he's just only constricting me slightly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin has traveled the world tracking dangerous creatures for his TV show, and now he is chronicling his adventures in a new book called "Living on the Edge." Jeff Corwin joins us live now from New York.

Jeff, good to have you with us.

CORWIN: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: How are things going? You are a busy guy. You have to shoot all these wonderful adventures, and then you found time to squeeze in a book. That's a lot.

CORWIN: Life is pretty crazy. Basically, when I was wrapping up this book, my wife was within days to giving birth to our first child. I was wrapping up a season, beginning another series, and finishing a house renovation.

O'BRIEN: So you basically did pretty much all the stress inducers at once.

CORWIN: Yes, pretty much.

O'BRIEN: Well, good for you. It's good work. And I'm showing here -- it's worth pointing out that you did the text and the photography all throughout this book. You are a very talented wildlife photographer, in addition to your on-camera skills.

And I am thinking of you out on safari and having to do all you do to shoot your scenes. Tell you what, let's show, for those who have not seen Jeff on Animal Planet, for those of you who don't have an 11-year-old boy at home, we will give you a little sense of what he's up to.

Oh, Great White sharks. Now, you don't go in with the Great White shark, right? CORWIN: Only with dental floss.

O'BRIEN: I mean, that's some serious stuff there, right? But you will do -- you get up close and personal with animals -- well, there you go. You name it, you are not afraid of it, right?

CORWIN: I love -- you know, my life is about animals, and my life is about adventure. And the great joy I have in my life is that I get to do a job I love. And what I love to do is share information about natural history and wildlife, and not just the cute and cuddly creatures. Because everybody likes pandas and guerrillas, but alligators and snakes and turtles. All of these things we're not familiar about are equally as important, which was one of the motivations for writing "Living on the Edge."

O'BRIEN: All right. Now, I'd be remiss -- my daughter would be mad at me if we didn't show the zebras, because zebras (UNINTELLIGIBLE) horses if she's horse nutty. Tell us, where were you when you captured this picture? And give us a little back story.

CORWIN: I was in a waterhole in Tanzania, and I was out there tracking lions that were hunting. And we actually got.

O'BRIEN: So this was like zebra happy hour.

CORWIN: This is zebra happy hour. Actually, this is the pre- buffet. They don't realize they are on the menu.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

CORWIN: And we actually get that. And basically, with this book, "Living on the Edge," my objective was to enlighten, but do it through entertainment to engage the reader, as I try to do with the viewer. So I broke it up into four sections, four of my favorite places.

I chose the -- that's my wife Natasha. She's my lovely lady. And she was actually four months pregnant there.

O'BRIEN: You know, I've got to ask you, there she is with you and she seems reasonably OK with all of this. Does she ever get a little nervous on some of your exploits?

CORWIN: Well, we are working right there on a hyena. He's actually sleeping, he's not dead. He's sleeping and we are putting a collar on him.

But, you know, it's interesting. I tried to get life insurance. I have a problem getting life insurance. And I sat down with this sales guy, and he looks at me and he goes, "OK, yes, you don't smoke, you run, good heart." And he goes, "Hey, wait a minute, my kids love your show." And then he goes, "Wait a minute, we can't give you insurance."

But it's an adventure. I love what I do. And to be able to tell it on the boob tube and to tell it in a book, that's -- my goal in life is to share information, but to try to do it about things we don't understand and to try and do it in a way that's fun.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now you do -- this is kind of a crowded field. It's kind of a jungle out there. How do you differentiate yourself, or is there just a bottomless pit of interest among, well, let's face it, kids, primarily -- but some adults are part of this as well -- in the natural world and adventures like this?

CORWIN: Well, I think what differentiates what I do is that I have my own style and my own approach to telling a story in natural history. And there is a lot of hands-on in wildlife.

Clearly, I know my objective when people watch my show, which is to give them information and to wake them up and show how they are a part of the natural world. I also know that when people watch my show, they are watching to see if I am going to be eaten that episode.

O'BRIEN: Oh. You think there's a little of that?

CORWIN: Yes, sure. So I walk that fine line and that little dance of, you know, entertainment with education and enlightenment. Ultimately, though, we try to have a legitimate reason to do any hands-on work. But clearly, it is television. In the end, it's about engaging the viewer.

And hopefully, after we go through that process, they walk away with information. What's different about a book, though, is that you have more time. Hopefully with a book, people will be able to read it, digest the information, have a good time, but at the same time, get information from the places that I love and see these places through my eyes, through the photographs that I've been taking.

Since I was -- basically, my dream has been to write this book since I was 12 years old. And it's been piling up with life experiences, and finally here it is.

O'BRIEN: Well, we don't have much more time. But when you read the first passage, which details your trip into the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, you had sort of a rough start. And things have gone better ever since, right?

CORWIN: Yes. Basically, if I had wrapped up my life with Arizona and sort of steered into another career, it would have been a bad mistake. Ultimately, Arizona was a learning lesson for me, that you look at the Sonoran Desert, it looks tough and uninviting, but underneath that baking veneer is an extraordinary landscape and an extraordinary ecosystem, with great stories to tell.

O'BRIEN: Outstanding. Jeff Corwin. The book is "Living on the Edge." It is out today. We are right on the cusp, on the edge. If you want to find out about it, you find out about it right here first on LIVE FROM.

Jeff, great pleasure having you with us.

CORWIN: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good luck. And be safe out there, OK?

CORWIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 10, 2003 - 15:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are going to take a walk on the wild side now with a connoisseur of creatures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF CORWIN, ANIMAL PLANET: See those sharp teeth? He will bite you if you get too close. Lucky for me, he's just only constricting me slightly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin has traveled the world tracking dangerous creatures for his TV show, and now he is chronicling his adventures in a new book called "Living on the Edge." Jeff Corwin joins us live now from New York.

Jeff, good to have you with us.

CORWIN: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: How are things going? You are a busy guy. You have to shoot all these wonderful adventures, and then you found time to squeeze in a book. That's a lot.

CORWIN: Life is pretty crazy. Basically, when I was wrapping up this book, my wife was within days to giving birth to our first child. I was wrapping up a season, beginning another series, and finishing a house renovation.

O'BRIEN: So you basically did pretty much all the stress inducers at once.

CORWIN: Yes, pretty much.

O'BRIEN: Well, good for you. It's good work. And I'm showing here -- it's worth pointing out that you did the text and the photography all throughout this book. You are a very talented wildlife photographer, in addition to your on-camera skills.

And I am thinking of you out on safari and having to do all you do to shoot your scenes. Tell you what, let's show, for those who have not seen Jeff on Animal Planet, for those of you who don't have an 11-year-old boy at home, we will give you a little sense of what he's up to.

Oh, Great White sharks. Now, you don't go in with the Great White shark, right? CORWIN: Only with dental floss.

O'BRIEN: I mean, that's some serious stuff there, right? But you will do -- you get up close and personal with animals -- well, there you go. You name it, you are not afraid of it, right?

CORWIN: I love -- you know, my life is about animals, and my life is about adventure. And the great joy I have in my life is that I get to do a job I love. And what I love to do is share information about natural history and wildlife, and not just the cute and cuddly creatures. Because everybody likes pandas and guerrillas, but alligators and snakes and turtles. All of these things we're not familiar about are equally as important, which was one of the motivations for writing "Living on the Edge."

O'BRIEN: All right. Now, I'd be remiss -- my daughter would be mad at me if we didn't show the zebras, because zebras (UNINTELLIGIBLE) horses if she's horse nutty. Tell us, where were you when you captured this picture? And give us a little back story.

CORWIN: I was in a waterhole in Tanzania, and I was out there tracking lions that were hunting. And we actually got.

O'BRIEN: So this was like zebra happy hour.

CORWIN: This is zebra happy hour. Actually, this is the pre- buffet. They don't realize they are on the menu.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

CORWIN: And we actually get that. And basically, with this book, "Living on the Edge," my objective was to enlighten, but do it through entertainment to engage the reader, as I try to do with the viewer. So I broke it up into four sections, four of my favorite places.

I chose the -- that's my wife Natasha. She's my lovely lady. And she was actually four months pregnant there.

O'BRIEN: You know, I've got to ask you, there she is with you and she seems reasonably OK with all of this. Does she ever get a little nervous on some of your exploits?

CORWIN: Well, we are working right there on a hyena. He's actually sleeping, he's not dead. He's sleeping and we are putting a collar on him.

But, you know, it's interesting. I tried to get life insurance. I have a problem getting life insurance. And I sat down with this sales guy, and he looks at me and he goes, "OK, yes, you don't smoke, you run, good heart." And he goes, "Hey, wait a minute, my kids love your show." And then he goes, "Wait a minute, we can't give you insurance."

But it's an adventure. I love what I do. And to be able to tell it on the boob tube and to tell it in a book, that's -- my goal in life is to share information, but to try to do it about things we don't understand and to try and do it in a way that's fun.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now you do -- this is kind of a crowded field. It's kind of a jungle out there. How do you differentiate yourself, or is there just a bottomless pit of interest among, well, let's face it, kids, primarily -- but some adults are part of this as well -- in the natural world and adventures like this?

CORWIN: Well, I think what differentiates what I do is that I have my own style and my own approach to telling a story in natural history. And there is a lot of hands-on in wildlife.

Clearly, I know my objective when people watch my show, which is to give them information and to wake them up and show how they are a part of the natural world. I also know that when people watch my show, they are watching to see if I am going to be eaten that episode.

O'BRIEN: Oh. You think there's a little of that?

CORWIN: Yes, sure. So I walk that fine line and that little dance of, you know, entertainment with education and enlightenment. Ultimately, though, we try to have a legitimate reason to do any hands-on work. But clearly, it is television. In the end, it's about engaging the viewer.

And hopefully, after we go through that process, they walk away with information. What's different about a book, though, is that you have more time. Hopefully with a book, people will be able to read it, digest the information, have a good time, but at the same time, get information from the places that I love and see these places through my eyes, through the photographs that I've been taking.

Since I was -- basically, my dream has been to write this book since I was 12 years old. And it's been piling up with life experiences, and finally here it is.

O'BRIEN: Well, we don't have much more time. But when you read the first passage, which details your trip into the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, you had sort of a rough start. And things have gone better ever since, right?

CORWIN: Yes. Basically, if I had wrapped up my life with Arizona and sort of steered into another career, it would have been a bad mistake. Ultimately, Arizona was a learning lesson for me, that you look at the Sonoran Desert, it looks tough and uninviting, but underneath that baking veneer is an extraordinary landscape and an extraordinary ecosystem, with great stories to tell.

O'BRIEN: Outstanding. Jeff Corwin. The book is "Living on the Edge." It is out today. We are right on the cusp, on the edge. If you want to find out about it, you find out about it right here first on LIVE FROM.

Jeff, great pleasure having you with us.

CORWIN: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good luck. And be safe out there, OK?

CORWIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com