“80 years, it makes a tiger think.”
PDS/USN mascot Peabody the tiger was looking through his scrapbook a couple of weeks ago and realized it has been 80 years since he first arrived at 2000 Edgehill.
Peabody was born Poughkeepsie, NY where his father, Tony (no not that Tony the tiger) worked in regional theater. Tony and Peabody’s mother Ethal had met in college in the Catskills.
‘Grandpaw came over to the U.S. from England as part of a circus group in the 1870s. He went on to work with Wild Bill Hickok and was a star attraction in the show until …well ...let’s just say that he had a full meal and was encouraged to retire.” Family legend has it that Peabody’s great-great-great grandfather was the first to emigrate from Bengal to England. He, apparently, liked to eat glowing fish and inspired William Blake’s line “Tiger, tiger burning bright.”
Another relative is thought to have been the inspiration for Shere Khan in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. “I am not sure how much of this family lore is true, but I’m going to keep repeating it.”
“Like dad and grandpaw, I first went into show business and toured with Cab Calloway for a few years, but, in the spring of 1932, while we were in Nashville, a thorn in my paw made it impossible for me to continue in the act.” A student from Peabody Demonstration School found him, removed the thorn, and nursed him back to health.
The student, Margaret Roberts ’32, remembers the incident well. “Who wouldn’t want to help a fellow creature in distress? He was just so pitiful. It is hard to believe he is still there and still cheering USN’s teams to victory.”
The thorn was a misfortune transformed into a joy by Margaret’s kindness. That next fall, Peabody became the devoted mascot first of PDS and now (and forever) USN. “I did, in the early years, have to suppress the temptation to maul and eat the opposing teams, but school spirit is all the sustenance I need now.”
“There are so many people I remember from these past eight decades. I think there was a student named Liza Beazley (Lentz) ’73 who was my handler in the early 70s. I was so surprised I nearly lost my stripes when she gave me a spa day a couple of years ago…It was like I got a whole new coat. Last year a student named Sam Douglas ’12 taught me how to do back flips. I landed on my tail more times than I like to remember learning that trick.”
“I have some great memories of the football days. The roar of the crowd still rings in my ears. I got to be great friends with a lot of the basketball players to like Stuart Nicholson ’45, Bobby Doochin ’58, Jack Gayden ’62, Ronnie Lawson ’80, and just a whole bunch of other great guys. I was always a little shy around the girls teams, but I remember Cliffadeane Radabaugh ’46, Marnie Criley ’85 (I think she went on to work with hawks), Jenny Boucek ’92…really over 80 years there have been so many I the list wouldn’t end and I haven’t even touched on all the other sports.”
Peabody also maintained his love of the theater, but there never was a role that fit him. “They once offered me the role of bear skin rug…I pretended to think it was funny…humph.”
At PDS he also discovered a love for painting water colors of flower scapes. “I owe Chris Tibbott a lot for introducing me to painting and Liz Mask still critiques my work. Jose Rodriguez and I used to have a sideline business illustrating greeting cards.”
Peabody likes to relax by gardening and reading. “Six inch claws make turning pages hard, but they are great for tilling the soil.” He is also a volunteer at animal rescue. “I have helped find homes for hundreds of cats. It is amazing how easily insistence from an one ton lion will convince just about anyone they need a pet.”
Even though generations upon generations of students have grown to know and love Peabody, there are a few things that might surprise his fellow tigers about him. “I am really afraid of water. Ann Wheeler and I share a passion for romance novels, and I love going to the opera.”
