"I've never seen so many excited gays before," observed a sweaty reveler on the pulsing dance floor at the Atlanta Pride party at the Georgia Aquarium. His tattooed friend looked around and deadpanned, "Or so many terrified fish."

I had never been inside an aquarium before--just outside as a demonstrator....

Back in the '80s, when many people still thought that PETA was a Middle Eastern bread, a funny actor from Oklahoma became our first champion in Hollywood and helped establish the organization as a household name. She was Rue McClanahan, the flirty "Golden Girl," and she became so active that...

Most people trace counterculture to the 1960s. They've got the right decade but the wrong century. It started in the 1860s with the writing of an upstart from Missouri whose droll read on society's pretenses paved the way for debates that continue today about class, country, race, religion and animals.

The pounding on the door to room 1141 at the Waldorf was too aggressive to be a maid, and I hadn't ordered room service.

"Who is it?"

I looked through the peephole to see three well-fed men in blue blazers.

"Security-open up."

"You don't look like...