The Cowboy and His Elephant: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship

In the late 1980s, a female baby elephant was born on the plains of Southern Africa. In a "cull," her family was slaughtered. Only the newborn female's life was spared. Terrified and bewildered the young elephant was transported to America to be sold.

Bob Norris is a cowboy with an enormous empathy for animals. Handsome as a movie star, he was the Marlboro Man, with his face appearing on billboards around the world. But something was missing. When the hurt, vulnerable little elephant, Amy, came into his life, an incredible bond between the most unlikely of friends was forged.

Bob adopted Amy and through close observation, gentle training, humor, and endless perseverance, this accomplished horseman gradually coaxed Amy into overcoming her mistrust of humans, and her fear of the world. Amy became a beloved member of the Norris family, and partner to the ranch hands, but Bob knew from the start that the ultimate goal was for Amy to regain her confidence and her independence - even, if it were possible, to go back to the savannahs of Africa.

Amy may have left the cowboy's life, but she never left his heart. The Cowboy and His Elephant is a story of mutual friendship, of genuine love and compassion, and foremost, this is an American story with roots that run deep in the values and traditions of the American West.

Malcolm MacPherson lives in the countryside of Virginia with his children Molly and Fraser, and his wife Charlie. He has worked on the staffs of New York Magazine and Premiere, and has contributed stories and articles to publications from The New York Times to Readers’ Digest. For nearly fifteen years, he was a staff correspondent for Newsweek, based in the U.S., Europe, and Africa, where he took every opportunity to observe elephants in the wild.