by Anita Lesko
Yep, that’s Temple, helping you learn something new every day.
Follow Up with Temple After Jim Uhl Interview
After speaking with Jim Uhl, I talked to Temple to ask her about specific things from that conversation. I started out asking her about John Wayne.
Temple was excited with this conversation. “So, I hear you got to meet the legendary John Wayne! What was that like?” I asked. “At the time we built that dip vat, John Wayne owned Red River feed lot,” she began. “He had also owned 26 Bar Ranch, and I got to see him at the bull sale. He gave me a ranch catalog that he signed, which I gave away to somebody. He was just a big cowboy. He looked exactly like he did in the movies, he even dressed the same! He died not too long after I saw him. At the time I did the project, he owned the feed yard. I knew what a big movie star he was, and it was exciting to meet him. He was a rancher guy, really tall. I don’t get awestruck the way some people do. When I was in high school, my roommate was swooning over Ringo Starr on the floor in front of the TV, watching him live on The Ed Sullivan Show. Girls were ripping out the grass that Ringo Starr walked on, and I’m going, ‘Really?’”
I said, “When I was talking to Jim, he mentioned a guy named Ted Gilbert.” Temple replied, “Yes, Ted Gilbert! He was the manager at Red River feed yard—a great guy, a fantastic guy. See, the feed yard got sold. There were very big death taxes, and they had to sell the ranch and feed yard to pay the death taxes. Ted and his wife were great people. Great friends.”
Temple went on to talk about the dip vat job, “The McElhaney feed yard where we did the first dip vat was about three hours away. Red River was only an hour away. So, while they were building it, I was there the whole time, making sure they were building it right. I could just drive there every day.”
“Temple, Jim told me about the time you treated him to dinner to see the boxing match,” I said. Temple surely remembered, “I can remember once when we were in Fresno, the hotel only had little tiny TV’s. Jim loved boxing, and there was a big match between Ali and Spinks. I wanted him to get to see it on a big screen, so I took him out to dinner. That job was where I spent an entire day handling all their cattle, and was having some trouble with the cattle, then I realized it was my shadow! The cattle could see my own shadow! So then I had to position myself so they couldn’t.”
People Who were Bad, and Good, to Temple
I then brought up the Scottsdale feed yard, and the day Temple got thrown out. I was kind of worried about how upset she’d get over it.
I started, “Temple, Jim and I talked about the day you got thrown out of the Scottsdale feed yard.” Temple quickly stated, “When I got thrown out of the Scottsdale feed yard, it was the foreman that did that. The owner of the place was actually very nice to me, but he wasn’t there very often. It was always the foreman that gave me all the problems. I just found out about five years ago from someone who knew him that he was a big ‘macho’ guy. He used to belong to some big club in Scottsdale that was for men only. He just didn’t believe that women belonged there. I didn’t understand that back then. Remember, that was back in the early seventies. I can remember when I was driving into the Scottsdale feed yard, on the radio was playing that song by Sonny and Cher, ‘A Cowboy’s Work is Never Done.’ Temple started singing the lyrics here, in a nice tune: “I used to jump my horse and ride, I had a six gun at my side, I was so handsome, women cried, and I got shot but never died! That’s what was playing that day I got thrown out! At that time, the only jobs women did at the feed yards were in the office. So, right after getting thrown out, I drove straight to the Arizona Farmer Ranchman magazine office and offered to write a column for them, called ‘The Feed Lot Bulletin.’ I had already written several articles for them, and I wanted to go to the Arizona Cattle Feeders meeting to cover it for the magazine. Boy, did I write the best article ever; I got everything correct, and everyone’s name right. It was in a fancy Arizona hotel. My revenge against Scottsdale feed yard was to get that press pass and write really good articles, then they’d have to let me in.”
As Temple was recalling those fateful days, she thought of this, “I started thinking back of all the people who were good to me and I realized many of them were ex-military officers, like Jim, who was a Marine Corps captain. Military people appreciate logical thinking. Jim Uhl was somebody very critical in helping me get started.”
I asked Temple, “Jim Uhl said you called welding ‘pigeon doo-doo,’ and he said he’d let expand on that for me. What was that all about?” Temple replied, “That was before I met Jim. I criticized someone’s welding and said it looked like ‘pigeon doo-doo,’ and Harvey Winkelman (the engineer at the plant) called me into his office. He explained to me that the welder, Whitey, was his employee, and that I should have come to him if I didn’t like the welding. He explained that Whitey was a maintenance engineer, which was different from a construction engineer. And even though Whitey’s welding wasn’t pretty, they held. He sent me into the cafeteria where Whitey was to apologize for my rude talk. He told me exactly what I had to do. He counseled me very well. He didn’t scream and yell at me. He just talked to me in private that my behavior was not acceptable. I just went into that cafeteria and did it. Today I was reading an article about adversity, and how kids that have a certain amount of adversity that rise above it often accomplish more in life. There were some of these things I just had to learn from my mistakes.”
“Yes,” I said, “but a lot has to do with how you get counseled. When someone yells at you or is in a mocking way, it’s meaningless. When it’s done right, it will enable you to learn from the experience.”
CHAPTER 19
Temple’s Life at Home
Try and envision Temple’s home. What do you conjure up in your mind for the home of a world-famous person who’s a jet-setting phenomenon? Possibly you are thinking of the show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Far from it. As I have come to know Temple extremely well, I’ve learned that things like a big fancy home aren’t on her list of things to have. While I was in Fort Collins for Temple’s seventieth birthday bash, there was no time to go visit Temple’s home. I did get commentary from two people closest to her, Cheryl Miller, her long-time assistant, and her friend and business partner, Mark. I asked each of them to describe Temple’s digs. Their response was pretty much exactly what I had guessed!
Cheryl shared this, “Temple owns a small two-bedroom condo. One of the bedrooms is her office, and it has lots of file cabinets heaped with papers. She has a stack of publications near her small copy machine that contains articles she has written. Her living room has tons of mementos from meetings—beautiful awards, a handwritten note from Claire Danes that is just lovely, and a small leather horse, also from Claire Danes. Her windowsill is filled with little cows, sheep, etc., that I am certain people have given her. She has a wonderful old picture of her family property near the front door, pictures I have framed for her of her awards, her brain scan, posters, etc. She also has paintings people have done of her and lots of hand-painted cow pictures. Of course, there are awards and trophies scattered all around, as well.”
“Her TV cabinet is filled with favorite books, and those that people have signed and given her in appreciation for writing blurbs for their publications.”
“Her kitchen is her second office, with her computer in it. She has a huge box of fan mail from the HBO movie Temple Grandin. She is saving those because they mean a lot to her. She does not cook at all in her kitchen; in her refrigerator you would probably just find yogurt with fruit in it. Her kitchen counters are tidy and have baskets and such of nuts and chocolates that have been given to her.”
“Her basement has metal shelves, I think three or four, that I had my son build for her because she had so many boxes of books in her living room. It also holds her journal publications and other miscellaneous papers.”
“She owns a small house on several acres that has a stream running through it. Her design assistant, Mark, lives there, an
d he owns some horses and maybe cows. I asked her one time why she doesn’t live there, and she said she prefers, and feels safer, having people around her. They actually kind of watch out for her. Her condo is about a mile from my house, so it makes email exchanges very easy. Yes, Temple’s place is very modest.” I enjoyed hearing Cheryl’s commentary on Temple’s style of living.
I asked Temple if she cooks much when she’s at home. Her reply was, “Well, no, I have yogurt and fruit in the refrigerator, that’s about it. I have a big lunch out, then either just some snacks or take-out for dinner.” I asked if she drinks coffee. “Yes, I do like coffee. There’s one thing I do hate, and that’s pumpkin spice coffee!” I took this one step farther, “So, do you make your own coffee at home?” Sighing, Temple confessed, “No, I have to go out to get it.” I started wondering if I should get her a coffee machine that uses the little cartridges. Probably not. I’m guessing it would be sitting in its box years later.
Temple continued on this topic, “The problem is that I’m just gone so much! When I am home I’m trying to catch up on correspondence, writing papers, reviewing articles, or reading my scientific journals. I recently got an email from a mom who had contacted me ten years ago about her son. I had told her to get him out working. She wrote to tell me she followed my advice, and now he’s married and has a good job, and she wanted to thank me for talking to her back then. I’ve now got her email hanging up on the wall. I figure I’m doing well. Maybe if I was home more often, I’d do more stuff around here. I’d probably have a dog. I really like Labrador retrievers, so that’s what I’d get. It would be fun to take it to the office with me.”
Temple was on a roll, “I just want to see these young kids be successful. They’re not learning any working skills. I’ve been running into moms who can’t let go. Part of the problem is that their identity is tied up in being a special needs mom. See, Mother’s sense of identity was tied up in her theater, where she did semi-professional theater and music, and some TV shows. She had her identity with that, and it had nothing to do with autism. In fact, I can remember when I was a kid, I didn’t like the fact that she spent so much time at the poet’s theater. It made me want to tear up the tickets and stuff. What they should have told me was that I liked having my life flying kites and making things, and Mother likes to have her life with her theater friends. I think if they would have explained it to me that way, I would have accepted it a lot better. It should have been explained to me that I have a life, and then I would have understood: I liked to fly kites, I liked to build things, I liked to find shells on the beach and make stuff out of them. That was my fun stuff to do, and Mother had her fun stuff to do.”
Parents, take note of that. Don’t ever underestimate your child’s feelings or thoughts. Explain things to them. They might not look like they get it, but they really do—they’re just not showing it on the surface.
Teenage Years at Home
When Temple was a teenager at home, before going to boarding school, she had her times of great emotion just like any other teenager. Here’s one that I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for.
Temple mentioned that she once kicked a hole in the wall when she was angry. Whoa! Let’s get the scoop on that! “Mother made me fix it. I had to paint the entire section of the wall so it didn’t show.” “Gosh!” I exclaimed, “Why did you kick a hole in the wall?” Temple continued, “I got into an argument with Mother, and I got so mad I kicked a hole in the wall. I had to buy all the materials to fix it; I had to get all the spackling and tape. It was a small enough hole that I didn’t have to cut out a piece of drywall. I stuffed it full of newspaper then put the tape over it, then the spackling. I had to do a really big area and feather it all out, then come back two days later when it was all dry and sand it until it was totally smooth. Then, I had to paint an eight-foot by eight-foot area of wall to be sure it all matched. I’d seen other people do all that, so I knew how to do it. I got all the tools and just did it. Mother had said it better not show, and it didn’t. It looked perfect. I never kicked a wall ever again!”
“Where did you learn to do drywall work?” I asked. “I once saw people doing it, and I stood and watched very carefully and saw what to do. I simply memorized it, taking snapshots in my mind, and stored for future use.” Amazing.
CHAPTER 20
On the Job
I’ll admit to eating meat. Then, I’ll admit I’m an animal lover. I guess I pretend that those packages of New York strip steaks, or the pork roast, or the organic chicken tenders I buy each week were magically made in a factory. I’m thinking that not too many people stand there while making their selection and imagine just how all that animal protein got there in the display case. Since meeting Temple, that’s exactly what I do as I stand there. And here’s how I justify buying meat. I will bet you any sum of money that if Anita Lesko stops buying meat, the meat industry is not going to go out of business. So, the next issue is how the animals are treated and processed (yes, the word “processed” is the pretty word for “slaughtered”). This is where Temple Grandin gallops into the picture on her white stallion!
Before she came onto the scene of the meat industry, it was the norm for animals to be inhumanely treated and slaughtered. Temple dramatically changed that, not only in the United States, but around the world. When I recently asked Temple about the number of facilities she’s designed, she said, “It’s not the number of facilities I’ve designed, but the number of cattle processed in plants I’ve designed. Well over half of all cattle in the US are processed at facilities designed by me.” I said, “They should put a little sticker on meat packages that were produced at your facilities. Then I’d feel better about buying it.” If you take the time to investigate the difference in how animals are handled and treated at a non-Temple facility vs. a Temple facility, you will find it’s like night and day. Temple has done amazing things for the autism world, and she’s done equally amazing things for animal welfare.
I want to be sure you see something else about Temple: that she does, in fact, have great compassion for animals. In one of our last conversations for this book, Temple brought it up on her own. I was really happy she did, so I could share it with you. Temple started, “I’ve been bashed by animal rights activists because I design slaughter plants, but on the other hand, I’ve been bashed by the meat industry for things that I’ve stood up for. It’s like equal opportunity bashing!” Hearing this, I replied, “Yes, I can imagine how that could happen.” She continued, “Somebody wrote online that I didn’t care at all about the animals. I got to thinking, ‘Now, wait a minute! I’ve gotten into a lot of trouble for speaking out concerning issues with the cattle.’ The animal activists that have criticized me don’t realize that I’ve faced backlash by people in the livestock industry, too, because I’ve spoken up when there’s been a problem. We’ve just got to speak out on this stuff.”
I replied, “Oh, I know that when people bring bad things into the light, others don’t like it. But otherwise, it would all still be happening. This process needs to be done humanely. And that’s what you are all about.”
Temple went on, “The animal rights people don’t like that I’m trying to fix slaughterhouses, not get rid of them. One of the really interesting things is working with the restaurant companies. You get those vice presidents out in the field, and they see something done poorly, and they instigate true undercover boss moments. They say, ‘Oh, we’ve got some things here that we are going to have to fix!’”
Temple added, “Right now heat stress in cattle is a big issue, it’s becoming more and more of a problem, and I’m the one who’s bringing it up. A lot of people don’t want to know about it. It costs a lot of money to construct shade.” I replied, “I remember talking to Jim Uhl about the time you snuck into the semi-truck loaded with cattle on a scorching day, so you could monitor the heat level and stress on the cattle.” She replied, “These big, heavy cattle need shade in their feed yards, and that costs money. Some
one has to stand up and say it when there’s something that needs to be fixed. I just read a paper published in the International Biological Meteorology Journal—it’s not my paper, but I quote it all the time. It’s about open-mouth breathing in cattle, and it discusses that the more they pant, the hotter they are getting inside. They only pant when they’re really hot and in trouble.”
I asked, “How can you determine how hot they are getting?” Temple explained, “When they’re at rest, cattle breathe with their mouths closed. When their mouth starts opening, they’re getting hotter, and the more their tongue extends, the hotter they are getting inside. This especially happens with high humidity, high temperatures, and no air movement.” You had better remember this for the next time you are at a feed lot in the summer!
Temple can get really deep, and I remember there’s a genius on the other end of the conversation. Temple was on a roll about the meat industry, and said, “The other thing I started thinking about is the ethics of eating meat. I just read the other day that there was an experiment done—you know how DNA has four base pairs? (Of course, I’m sure this fact is right on the top of your head.) This experiment added two additional pairs to make six base pairs. You’re talking about being able to make life from scratch.”
Of course, there’s more. “I thought about that back when I had to write an ethics paper back in the late seventies. I knew that diabetics got their insulin from cattle, from their pancreas, which would give them a ten-day supply. That made me feel pretty good about slaughter. That changed when human insulin was made from bacteria. That was the first Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), but it wasn’t called that back then. GMOs hadn’t been invented yet; back then it was called r-DNA, or recombinant DNA. It was a new form of life to replace the steer pancreas that was used to produce insulin. I got to thinking, then, that maybe in the future, we were going to create more forms of life. That’s an ethical issue that makes slaughter houses look like a walk in the park.”
