User:George DZP/Benjamin Mee

Benjamin Mee is the director of Dartmoor Zoological Park near Plymouth in Devon, England.

History
Mee was born in Melbourne Australia in 1965. Whist still an infant his family returned to the United Kingdom eventually settling in Surrey.

His secondary school education was fraught with difficulties, finding himself expelled from several schools.

Following school, Mee worked as a bricklayer and decorator in London. During this time he continued to feed his interest in psychology and animal behaviour studying psychology at University College London and completing an MSc in science journalism at Imperial College.

As a writer, he worked as a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine and as a columnist for The Guardian newspaper. His column was titled, "to DIY For" (later known as "Vive le DIY") and offered advice and guidance for DIY enthusiasts and novices alike.

In ???? Mee moved to ??? in France with his wife Catherine. Whilst in France he continued to work as a freelance journalist and also began work on a book about the Evolution of Humour in man and animals.

Publications
In September 2005 selections from Mee's Guardian column were published in a book titled, "The Call of DIY: A Toolkit of Practical Wisdom" by Guardian Books.

Mee's memoir titled, "We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Broken-Down Zoo, and the 200 Animals That Changed a Family Forever" recounts the purchase and reopening of Dartmoor Zoological Park, and was published by HarperCollins in ???? 2007.