* I came to this story the old fashioned way (for me): I saw Su Lin at the Field Museum and needed to know more. That led me inevitably to Vicki Croke's The Lady and the Panda from 2006. It's a terrific read. If you have any interest at all in learning more about Ruth Harkness, that's the place to go. I've got a few quibbles here and there, but, for real, it's delightful.

* Quentin Young's (slightly strange and contested) version of events is told in Chasing the Panda by Michael Kiefer.

* If you've got a few hundred bucks (or a library with more liberal lending policies with old books than mine), why not read Ruth's own book, The Baby Giant Panda?

* If you're interested in zoos writ large, I'm a fan of Animal Attractions: Nature on Display in American Zoos by Elizabeth Hansen.

* We start with Hush-Maker by Moon Ate the Dark.

* Roll on with Freudian Slippers by Chilly Gonzales.

* Hear Bibio's Cherry Blossom Road a couple of times.

* Hit up Nice Dream by radio.string.quartet.vienna

* Hear Don Redman and his Orchestra play Blue Eyed Baby from Memphis.

* The centerpiece of the middle section is Snow Again by Lambert.

* We hear a couple of pieces by Dan Romer: An Old Fashioned Man and End of the World.

* We finish up on Lullatone's Falling Asleep With a Book on Your Chest.

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