See this special interview with Ray Ryan, the “real Ray” who was featured in The Elephant Letters: The Story of Billy and Kani. He is also interviewed extensively about his insights about the psychology and politics of the captive Elephant industry in the book Elephant on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity.
Ray worked previously as an Elephant keeper at the San Diego Wildlife Park. Here, he shares an inside view of what captive life is really like for Elephants in zoos, and circuses. Ray holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Diego State University and is the author of Keepers of the Arc: An Elephants’ View of Captivity.