Found in the NY Daily News, Saturday Oct 16, 1954 - page 13 "A Cat, a Parrot and a Mr. Willis The most delightful current news story, we think, is that of William Willis. Willis is the 61 year old New Yorker who took off from Callao, Peru last June 22, aboard a raft made of balsa wood, with only a cat and a parrot as shipmates. His intention was to ride the Humboldt current to the South Seas, after the manner of Thor Heyerdahl and five pals seven years ago aboard the raft Kon-Tiki. Willis had a radio transmitter, but wasn't heard from till Wednesday of this week. Thursday, he turned up off Pago Pago, Samoa, looking fine. Yesterday, Willis tied up his raft at Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango, heavens knows why) and came ashore. He was in such good condition that he refused medical attention- after a prolonged diet of fish and rainwater. Willis had smashed the Heyerdahl record by making 6000 miles in 115 days as against the Scandinavian's 4300 in 102. It's an even more terrific story than the saga of the Kon-Tiki. To us, it has everything except sex appeal - adventure, man against the sea and the weather, American enterprise and courage, the grim ghastliness of being without human company for nearly four months, animal interest (how'd the cat get along with the parrot?), animal pathos (the cat finally ate the poor bird), and so on and so forth. Well (sic), be seeing you in books and movies, Mr. Willis, we hope, we hope. This real-life story has a lot of "escape" fiction beat a mile." Kat in VA Seeking kin of Mary Ellen Willis Shafer c.1860-1944 PA. machiekat@home.com