The Yellow Brick Road led Sue Thurman to Oz, aka AZ, where Starshine, a comedic, childlike intergalactic traveler, was born on a local radio show. After corporate experience as Director of Marketing & Public Affairs, she formed her own Production Company, Starshine & Company. She appeared as Starshine at events, local hospitals, Make-A-Wish celebrations, and met thousands of incredible children and their families. The transformation into Safari Sue happened when she entertained millions of visitors at the Phoenix Zoo. Then produced a television show, Arizona Entertainment Weekly, for CBS.

Today Sue is developing television pilots, writing novels, the Safari Series of children’s books, and a collection of interviews with those involved in the paranormal, inspired by her experiences with medium Allison Dubois, and Ghost Hunter, Debe Branning, while seeking a literary agent. She also writes creative marketing materials for a highly successful Taiwanese client, to Americanize their product copy for a US market launch. As a creative writer, thinker, and visionary, Sue has published a variety of materials. She is a vocalist, who loves doing voice-overs for commercials and singing. Currently she’s excited about taping a Ghost Hunt for a television pilot and developing another pilot for children to ignite their imaginations through the magic of reading.

Watch for the launch of her website, currently under construction, based on her imaginative Virtual Office at Zoetrope.com, Emerald City Imagineers.

What is Emerald City Imagineers?

ECI started in July 2007, with a virtual office.

ECI on Zoetrope.com, is a place for authors and producers to discuss imaginative concepts.

My motivation started as a child in our apple orchard. It was a mystical kingdom with dragons and giant eagles, a ranch with beautiful winged horses, the Emerald City, and more. Guess where everyone in the neighborhood played?

It’s been my pleasure to direct, produce, and create things from my earliest memory. I was fortunate to have the only magic picnic table in the neighborhood and a mother with the patience of a saint. It was a stagecoach, sailing ship, and space vehicle, only requiring imagination for fuel. This is where I learned the art of Imagineering.

ECI will create imaginative television programming and other media for children to stimulate their imaginations, and those of adults who are brave enough to enter the realm.

Where did your fascination with The Wizard of Oz come from?

The first time I saw The Wizard of Oz I was hooked. My dream was to go over the rainbow to meet the same characters, march up to the Emerald City and hear those beautiful voices singing. I’ve played the wicked witch on a few occasions. One of my talents is impersonations and that started with the munchkins, Glinda, the Lion, and of course the witch.

When will ECI launch?

Good question. I don’t have a particular launch date, but once the website is up, I believe other things will fall into place. It will start with promoting authors of children’s books. The wonderful books to spark their imaginations, are well written, and paint vivid pictures. Books like The Stone Beach and The Fisherman’s Son.

Tell us about your new TV pilot.

The children's television pilot will be called “Key to Imagination” after our very popular live musical. It's all about the magic of reading and how a book is the best key to unlock the realm of imagination.  Also based on the popular Reading Rainbow series. I'm really excited about it and plan to start recording

Initially, the other tour guides were shocked when Safari Sue arrived in a zebra stripped hat and vest. When they saw how visitors responded by exclusively going on Safari’s tours, their opinions changed. A few months later, I was recruited into the Enchanted Forest in time for the grand opening. Much like the magic apple orchard, imaginative programs blossomed. Our Tortoise Breakfasts, offered one month a year, were so popular there was a waiting list of up to two years to get tickets. Other programs followed the success and we had to steadily increase the number of offerings to meet the demands.

What are some of your favorite memories of working as Safari Sue?

Singing the Lion Sleeps Tonight to our lion Papago, and having him grunt in time with the song, then roar at the end. Hand feeding the giraffes in their barn was amazing and programs with the Galapagos Tortoises. My scarlet macaws that displayed their beautiful wings for me in greeting and the Ostrich that danced each morning I walked by. It was a blessing to be in their world and have them respond in special ways to let me know we were friends.

Providing the voice of Jenga, the audioanimatronic life-sized giraffe during her premier year at ZooLights, was memorable, once I learned to work the controls. Kids and adults felt special when Jenga spoke to them. I was in the crowd providing the voice and it was too funny when she’d look down at a child, say their name, and notice what they were wearing. We also played games like Jenga says and sang songs. It was the best time and I love improv comedy.

One of the funniest things that happened was behind the scenes during animal training classes with snakes. Safari jokingly told her group she was going to speak Parsel Tongue like Harry Potter. They laughed until the large snake looked at her as she gestured and spoke to it. Suddenly, it slid down from its high perch and into her arms. She was astonished and so was everyone else.

You wear many hats—TV developer, writer, vocalist, interviewer. Which is your favorite and why?

That’s a question I ask myself constantly and if I knew the answer, I’d tell you. There are different reasons I’m drawn to each, so I guess we’ll just see where the Yellow Brick Road ultimately leads. I love the variety of them all.

How did you get involved with the medium Allison Dubois and ghost hunter Debe Branning?

It was my pleasure to interview them at different times for our television show, Arizona Entertainment Weekly on CBS. Because my interest in the paranormal is strong, I was drawn to them both. They are incredible people and we clicked from the start.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Yes. We lived in a haunted house when I was a very young child and my great-aunt and uncle also had a ghost in their house. It was frightening. Psychics often tell me I have strong gifts and why don’t I use them? Maybe I’ll put that on my list of new things to accomplish.

Other than ECI, what projects are you working on?

I’m writing marketing materials for a wonderful Taiwanese company, planning to shoot a television pilot with Debe Branning in late April during one of her ghost adventures, and two other pilots. One is based on our successful live production, Key to Imagination © 1998. It’s about the magic of reading and how a book is the best key to unlock the realm of imagination. We hope KTI will be a regular television series, we’re also looking for sponsors. There are a variety of original songs to record for a CD too.

The other pilot is Madame LePinswick, a character originally from KTI. She’s a wannabe psychic who sees into the future with her mystical bowling ball. I’m editing several paranormal romance novels I’ve written, working on a new book of interviews with psychics, ghost hunters and celebrities interested in the topics, and developing books for the Safari Series, which are children’s books about some incredible animals. My first book, MAYBE WE ARE FLAMINGOS published by Guardian Angel Publishing, will be out this summer. It’s based on a funny story Safari told at the zoo that got great reactions. I’m very excited about the book and have a wonderful illustrator, Kevin Scott Collier.

How do you manage your time and juggle all your projects?

Opportunities often decide the priority. Once I have the necessary funding and regular staff, I’ll be able to accomplish more.

Thanks for this opportunity Kim. I hope your readers will watch for more news on ECI.

Regards,

Sue Thurman

the music soon. We did a demo CD in July of 2001 and were working with an agent. We had big plans to go to New York . . .then 9/11 happened. It squashed my dreams for a time, my agent left the business, and due to other stock market related things, we decided I needed a regular income. That's when I became Safari Sue at the zoo and it was an incredible experience.

Who is Safari Sue?

She is an entertainer with an upbeat, fun personality who always has a song and smile to share, while leading children and their families on interesting adventures to discover the world, especially animals. The Phoenix Zoo wanted a creative actor to generate excitement, and entertain visitors during their visits.