Kathryn Bowers teaches writing at UCLA and is coauthor of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing. Before talking about what veterinarians can teach doctors, she talked in the green room about her quasi-bridezilla moment, odd temping jobs, and drinking tea in Russia.
Q. If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?
A. It would have to be flying. I know it’s a cliché. I think I would like the perspective it would give and the ease of transport.
Q. What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?
A. I worked at a bakery, I was a hostess at an Italian restaurant. … I did some odd temping jobs back in the day. I worked as a secretary at an insurance agency in England.
Q. What are you keeping in your closet that you should have tossed already?
A. I have one of the dresses that my bridesmaids wore at my wedding. I didn’t wear it, but I bought one also, and I have it in there.
Q. Did you ever wear it subsequently?
A. I thought I had chosen a dress that everyone would want to wear again, and I was not successful.
Q. What promise to yourself do you break most often?
A. To host more dinner parties.
Q. What’s your best childhood memory?
A. I had a great childhood. I lived in Norway when I was young, and we had a big backyard, and I used to play underneath the apple trees there. It’s a deep sense memory I have of how big the world seemed.
Q. You worked in Moscow. What’s your favorite Russian food?
A. They have really good tea, and I really liked this kind of bread that’s actually from Georgia, not from Russia. It’s got cheese inside of it. I think it’s called “khachapuri,” and it’s delicious. It’s served a lot in Russia.
Q. Who keeps your secrets?
A. My husband, Andy.
Q. Where would you like to travel to next?
A. I think I’d like to go to Asia, especially if it could include Australia. I was in China in 1987, and the change would be pretty stunning to see. And I have friends in Japan I’d love to go visit again.
Q. Describe yourself in five words or less.
A. Curious, cautious, loyal, passionate, and-what’s something that’s twisted but not twisted? Oblique? I like to come at things from a different angle. Not taking things at face value-I like to see what’s underneath.
Q. What’s your greatest extravagance?
A. I still like to buy books, and it feels like an extravagance sometimes.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.