Jane Goodall
I guess it was no surprise that Jane died working, she died in service.
She was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met – so full of life, enthusiasm, good humour and passion for the conservation work she championed and absolutely determined to protect the planet and all of its species.
In her later years it was Roots and Shoots her organisation for children that was her main focus. She dreamed of forging an army of young passionate planetary protectors out of the school children of the world. She had hundreds of thousands of kids involved from over one hundred and forty countries.
She changed the way we think of animals, especially chimpanzees with whom she had spent so much of her time, and was clearly as comfortable surrounded by chimps as she was with people.
There is some wonderful footage of her with the chimps taken by a cameraman, Hugo Van Lawick, who was clearly in love with her and later married her. It’s an extraordinarily intimate feeling you get watching it, but you can see how easy it was for this man to fall in love with a beautiful woman so passionately absorbed in her work and her bold dream to become an accepted member of the chimpanzee community and take what she learned back into the world.
I was lucky enough to have spent a little time with Jane. She was always ready to help like-minded initiatives, and produced a wonderful and inspiring introduction for our first Interspecies Internet conference.
When she came to dinner at the house, she was wonderful company – sparkling, generous with more than a little touch of Mary Poppins.
She was nearly 90 at the time and we were astonished at all the commitments she had booked into her schedule, requiring extensive travel. She was a woman on a mission – a mission to save our planet and all its inhabitants. Jane Goodall was and will always be an inspiration to the world – and to me.
Thank you.
-pg