Larry Jones once rode on an elephant when the circus went to Washington, D.C.getty images
As Ringling Brothers assistant general counsel in the 1980s, Larry Jones did a little bit of everything. He negotiated leases for arenas, purchased animals, dealt with personnel issues.
In April 1981, the circus went to Washington, D.C., as President Ronald Reagan recovered from an assassination attempt.
Every time the circus came to town, Jones would arrange to march the elephants from the train station to the arena to build publicity. On this trip, Jones arranged for the elephants to walk by the White House and perform an elephant pyramid to honor the president.
“I got on one of the elephants and rode it to the White House,” Jones said. “You can’t say that you’ve talked to too many people who have ridden an elephant to the White House.”
Jones’ job also included fielding late-night calls to settle disputes between the circus workers. It’s a part of the job that Jones still jokes about with Fox Sports CEO and executive producer Eric Shanks.
“Anytime something gets bad at Fox, I just look at Larry and say, ‘This is still not as bad as circus roustabouts pulling guns on each other,’” Shanks said, laughing.
