Nan Knighton's Flaco Encounter
Nan was lucky enough to have a visit from Flaco, the famous Central Park Zoo escapee who was being tracked by thousands of New Yorkers. He landed on her kitchen window ledge and stayed for hours. She was thrilled. Here are some of her photos of Flaco, and a video can be found on Twitter/X where it’s gone viral. She and her husband John Breglio were also interviewed on WABC Channel 7 and Inside Edition about their visit from Flaco. Nan has also been posting that interview and other updates on her Facebook page. Nan totally fell in love with Flaco.
Additional Coverage
ABC News
"For three hours, Knighton said she spoke to the owl who stared back at her with his saucer-like eyes. At one point she got a little too close to the window, prompting her velvety-feathered visitor to let out a little hiss.
"Up close, he's this beautiful brindled fur and feathers. It's all colors. It's ochre and gold and different shades of brown and white," Knighton said. "I was kind of monotonous in telling him, 'You're gorgeous.'"
Asked where Flaco fell in with the A-listers she's met in the entertainment industry, Knighton didn't hesitate, saying, "Of all the luminaries I've ever met, he was the most luminous."
The New York Times
"Ms. Knighton was enthralled; she had not heard about Flaco. Worried that he might be in distress, she called around unsuccessfully to see whether someone might come to take him.
"I think he’s at a point now where the city is his domain,” she said. “And he feels confident, and he’s curious, and he’s enjoying himself.”
On Flaco's Death
As many of you know, I was blessed to be visited by Flaco the owl one afternoon last November. He died this Friday (February the 23rd) and I’m brokenhearted. What I saw of him during his time with me was a gentle, curious bird. Because Flaco had such majesty and nobility as he flew through Manhattan and settled high on perches, it seems almost denigrating to call him “adorable” but that was how he seemed when I was with him. Flaco brought inspiration and joy around the world and he was able to spend his last year of life flying free, after having been in captivity for 13 years. Rest in peace, Flaco, you glorious bird.
Nan Knighton
February 24, 2024
Featured Article:
Flaco: A Triptych ~ Part 3: Visitation
David Gessner conducts a sprawling and thoughtful interview with Nan on Flaco, his impact, and his loss:
“Not long ago, Frank, the composer I work with, sent me a new melody. He’s doing an album of jazz standards, so he sent me this melody, and I wrote this lyric, and I sent it back to him. And he said ‘This isn’t quite what I had in mind for a jazz standard.’ And I read it over and I realized that what I had written was a love song to Flaco. I mean it really was, it was a love song to an owl.
“I realized that there was this huge cave inside of me that… I remember thinking it’s like a bullet hole. It was like an empty spot. And I remember writing to David [Barrett of Manhattan Bird Alert], ‘Well, if I have a bullet hole, you have a vast heart hole.’”
-Nan Knighton, excerpt from article
FLACO: A CELEBRATION
This is the poem Nan read at Flaco's memorial:
THE ROOFTOPS ARE EMPTY. THE RAILINGS ARE BARE.
AND NO GRACEFUL OWL IS SEEN CRUISING THE AIR.
THERE’S NO GENTLE HOOTING TO SOFTEN THE NIGHT,
NO GOLD-BRINDLED FEATHERS TO CATCH MORNING LIGHT.
BUT FLACO WAS WITH US- A SUDDEN SURPRISE!
FRESH OUT OF HIS CAGE, HE BRAVED COLD WINTER SKIES,
FROM THE TREES, HE LOOKED DOWN ON THIS DAUNTING NEW WORLD.
BUT HE TOOK IT ALL ON WITH HIS WIDE WINGS UNFURLED.
HE SPIRALED THE CITY. HE’D DART AND HE’D SPRING.
HE COULD HUNT LIKE A PRO AND ROOST HIGH AS A KING.
HE’D PERK WINDSWEPT EARS, CHECK OUT EACH SOUND HE HEARD-
HE WAS CURIOUS, FEISTY, THIS BEAUTIFUL BIRD.
HE’D PUFF OUT HIS CHEST, SELF-POSSESSED AND QUITE PROUD.
DID HE KNOW THAT HE PLAYED TO A WAY-OBSESSED CROWD?
HE HAD SUCH A SWEET-FACE AND GOD KNOWS HE WAS SMART
AND THOSE DEEP YELLOW EYES SHOWED AN INNOCENT HEART.
SO LET’S CELEBRATE FLACO, THE BIRD WHO FLEW FREE
AND STILL SEE HIM PERCHED ON AN OLD OAKEN TREE.
Nan Knighton
March 3, 2024