April 2025

Sophie Darlington Welcomed as New ASC Member.

As a child growing up in Ireland, Sophie Darlington was deeply moved by the 1966 filmBorn Free, the famed dramatic feature inspired by the lives of British conservationists George and Joy Adamson while raising an orphaned lioness they named Elsa. “It’s corny but true,” Darlington says today. “From that moment on, lions fascinated me. I was nine years old and at boarding school in the U.K. as my folks were working abroad. I don’t know if you remember the score, but John Barry’s Oscar-winning music still carries huge emotional weight.” She also caught the travel bug at an early age: “Growing up, my brothers and I went on epic road trips with my parents, from the Western Isles of Scotland to Iran — from Tehran to Shiraz or Isfahan. These are...more