The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times(60)

There are so many people and animals who have contributed to my understanding of the world around us, who have helped me during my life’s journey. They are too many to mention. The students and scientists who came to Gombe and have enriched our understanding of chimpanzee and baboon behavior. I single out Dr. Anthony Collins because he has been with me since 1972, has helped to keep Gombe going, and is always there to help and support me in my travel in Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, and DRC. My second husband, Derek Bryceson, played a major role in securing the continuation of the work at Gombe. His relationship with the Tanzanian government allowed us to get briefly to Gombe when it was closed off after the students were kidnapped—we were taken there in a military helicopter. And how wonderful that the field assistants continued to follow the chimpanzees and baboons even when, for a while, I was not able to stay for more than a few days.

My heartfelt gratitude to the staff and volunteers of the Jane Goodall Institutes and our Africa programs in Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, Republic of Congo, Burundi, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali. And to those working to improve the welfare of animals in zoos and especially in our Tchimpounga and Chimp Eden sanctuaries for orphan chimpanzees, and the other sanctuaries that I helped to establish—Ngamba Island, Sweetwaters, and Tacugama.

Then there is a group of people who have supported me during the pandemic and made it possible for me to continue reaching out to people around the world through technology: Dan DuPont, Lilian Pintea, Bill Wallauer, Shawn Sweeney, Ray Clark, and the hardworking team in GOOF—the Global Office of the Founder—Mary Lewis, Susana Name, and Chris Hildreth. I am so grateful to Carol Irwin for her wise council throughout many challenging times. Grateful thanks to Mary Paris, who is the guardian of a large archive of my photos and whose patience and magical skills made it possible for us to include all the photos in this book. And a very special thank-you to all the young—and not so young—people organizing and taking action in our Roots & Shoots programs all around the world. For it is this movement that gives me so much hope for our future.

Finally, I come to those who have helped to make this book possible. All of you who have contributed stories and photographs, far too many to mention by name. The last in-person conversations Doug and I had were in the Netherlands, and we were so really grateful to Patrick and Dani?lle van Veen, who found that wonderful forester’s hut in the wood, provided food and wine, and Dani?lle cooked delicious food. Thank you so much.

And to those doing the actual work: including the wonderful team at Celadon Books, especially assistant editor Cecily van Buren-Freedman and most especially our wonderful and supportive editor Jamie Raab, president and publisher of Celadon Books, who has guided this book with such care and attentiveness while having to endure many delays because of my terrible schedule. And my endless gratitude to Gail Hudson, with whom I have often collaborated in the past, and who has been such a support to me as I struggled to write at the same time as dealing with everything else. Thank you, Gail. I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute to my sister, Judy Waters, and her daughter, Pip, who have kept me going through these tough days, doing the shopping and cooking so that I could devote full time to working. I am so grateful to Adrian Sington, who encouraged me to collaborate with Doug Abrams on a book of hope. And last, of course, Doug himself. He conceived of doing this book in the first place and with his penetrating questions managed to draw out some of my inmost thoughts. And he patiently adjusted his schedule to fit in with my increasingly crazy one during our final Zoom discussions about the meaning of and reasons for hope.

From Doug:

As I learned while writing this book, hope is a social gift, one that is nurtured and sustained by those around us. Each of us has a web of hope that supports, encourages, and uplifts us throughout our lives. I have been blessed by so many people who have helped me in countless ways.

First, I must thank my mother, Patricia Abrams, and my late father, Richard Abrams, who believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. Also, my brother, Joe, and my sister, Karen, who have been lifelong friends as well as siblings.

My extended family, teachers, friends, and colleagues have also been there all along the journey of life and particularly in creating this book as my father died and my son struggled with his brain injury. In particular, I’d like to thank my amazing friends Don Kendall, Rudy Lohmeyer, Mark Nicolson, Gordon Wheeler, Charlie Bloom, Richard Sonnenblick, Ben Saltzman, Matt Chapman, and Diana Chapman. I’d also like to thank my brilliant and fun friends and colleagues at Idea Architects who helped conceive, envision, and create this book, including Boo Prince, Cody Love, Staci Bruce, Mariah Sanford, Jordan Jacks, Stacie Sheftel, and especially the brilliant Esmé Schwall Weigand, who worked tirelessly to help with research and editing all along the way, and Lara Love Hardin and Rachel Neumann, my constant guides through the literary forest and partners in creating a wiser, healthier, and more just agency and world. Boo and Cody could not have been a better production team and traveling companions to Tanzania and could not have been more understanding when I needed to leave in the middle of our trip when my father was admitted to the hospital. I also want to thank our incredible foreign rights team, Camilla Ferrier, Jemma McDonagh, and Brittany Poulin of the Marsh Agency, and Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette of Abner Stein, who helped share the book with the world. This project would not exist without the love and matchmaking of my beloved friends and authors Christiana Figueres and Tom Carnac, two of the architects of the Paris Climate Agreement and two of the people whom history will remember as giving humanity a fighting chance. They introduced me to Jane and encouraged the project all along the way.