
My encounter with Fiona.
It was love at first sight. Sure, I knew Fiona was cute, but when I saw her floating serenely during a snooze, I was hooked.
My kiddos? Not so much.
“Look at the cute fish in there with her!” they shrieked, rushing past the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 570 pound baby.
I thought they were crazy but maybe they were on to something. In WCPO community reporter Lucy May and WCPO cartoonist Kevin Necessary‘s new book, “My Best Friend Fiona” Trixie the Tilapia is the narrator. The book will be published by WCPO and a portion of the proceeds go to the Zoo.
I’ve had the privilege of working with WCPO community reporter Lucy for many years. She’s an excellent writer and fair reporter. I jumped on the chance to talk to her about the book about Cincinnati’s favorite baby.
Here’s our converstion. (Kevin said Lucy covered my questions and gave this a thumbs up!)
She was staring right at me, and I literally squealed and fell to my knees, losing any appearance of journalistic objectivity.

Kevin and Lucy bring a stuffed Fiona to the office.

Fiona was only 29 pounds at birth.
She has been a daily dose of happiness and hope at a time with a lot of division and nastiness in the world.
Kevin shares that his cats, Huckleberry and Grayson aren’t big readers, no matter how much he tries to get them interested.
Thanks, Lucy and Kevin. Congratulations!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the zoo’s recent loss. Henry, Fiona’s dad, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Thanks, Henry for all the smiles!