Jane Goodall - Scientist, Environmentalist, Writer, and Reader

Illustration by Petra Braun 

When I was a student at the University of Oxford studying zoology, Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist, came to town to sign her latest book at Blackwells, Oxford's most marvelous bookshop. Naturally I went to the signing, and as the line was not too long I was able to have a short talk with Dr. Goodall. She was a very slender, almost fragile, looking lady with a soft voice. She looked at me with her penetrating eyes as I stumbled over my words, blushing furiously "Take a breath," she said smiling and tilting her head slightly to one side. Her words made me laugh, and after that I was able to tell her how the books she, Gerald Durrell, and David Attenborough had written had set me on my current path. 

   Later that evening I was invited to attend a gathering that was being held in her honor. Dr. Goodall has difficulty remembering faces and yet for some reason she remembered mine. "Ah, the reader," she said looking at me. She asked if I had ever visit Gerald Durrell's zoo on the island of Jersey, and I told her about how I had worked there for a whole summer. We chatted about my experiences there briefly and then she moved on. Dr. Goodall gave a talk about her new book and I remember feeling deeply moved by the words of this unassuming woman, who was so determined to do all she could to protect the chimpanzees that she had studied for so many years. I could see that Dr. Goodall was the kind of woman who would fight, tooth and nail, in her own quiet way, to protect the animals of this world. She was, and is, an inspiration. 

   Not surprisingly, it turns out that Jane Goodall is also a great reader. In 2020 Enchanted Lion published a book called A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader. In it, artists, writers, scientists, philosophers, philanthropists, musicians, and businesspeople who have been lifelong readers offer letters to children in which they talk about their love of reading. Jane Goodall wrote one of these letters. 

Dear Children,

I want to share something with you — and that is how much I loved books when I was your age. Of 

course, back then there was no Internet, no television — we learned everything from printed books. We didn’t have much money when I was a child and I couldn’t afford new books, so most of what I read came from our library. But I also used to spend hours in a very small second hand book shop. The owner was an old man who never had time to arrange his books properly. They were piled everywhere and I would sit there, surrounded by all that information about everything imaginable. I would save up any money I got for my birthday or doing odd jobs so that I could buy one of those books. Of course, you can look up everything on the Internet now. But there is something very special about a book — the feel of it in your hands and the way it looks on the table by your bed, or nestled in with others in the bookcase.

I loved to read in bed, and after I had to put the lights out I would read under the bedclothes with a torch, always hoping my mother would not come in and find out! I used to read curled up in front of the fire on a cold winter evening. And in the summer I would take my special books up my favorite tree in the garden. My Beech Tree. Up there I read stories of faraway places and I imagined I was there. I especially loved reading about Doctor Doolittle and how he learned to talk to animals. And I read about Tarzan of the Apes. And the more I read, the more I wanted to read.

I was ten years old when I decided I would go to Africa when I grew up to live with animals and write books about them. And that is what I did, eventually. I lived with chimpanzees in Africa and I am still writing books about them and other animals. In fact, I love writing books as much as reading them — I hope you will enjoy reading some of the ones that I have written for you.

Jane Goodall

More about Jane Goodall's Work

You can find out more about Dr. Goodall and her work on the Jane Goodall Institute website. In addition she has created a special global organization called Roots and Shoots who mission is to "empower young people to affect positive change in their communities." 

You can hear her read some of her children's books on her story time page . Here is more information about her books on the Astra Publishing House website. 

Women's History Month - A reading of Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dream

 

Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream is an award winning story based on the childhood of Marcenia “Toni Stone” Lyle Alberga (1921–1995), an African American girl who grew up to become the first woman to play for an all-male professional baseball team. Despite her parents’ misgivings, young Marcenia cared only about playing baseball and was a regular on a team of local boys. Then Gabby Street, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, came to town looking for recruits for a summer baseball camp. Undeterred by the fact that the camp was only for boys, and that her family could not afford proper baseball shoes (cleats), Marcenia made up her mind to attend. She did everything in her power to change Street’s mind. Finally her determination and pluck won him over. Marcenia was accepted into the camp and on her way to making her dream of a baseball career come true.

Storyline Online has created a wonderful reading of this story for you to enjoy.

A Chat with Cheryl Harness - Part Two

Welcome everyone to the second Chat with Cheryl Harness, author and illustrator extraordinaire.

Marya: Good morning Cheryl. It is good to be talking to you again

Cheryl: Hey there, Ms. M. J-G. Greetings from the bitter cold Midwest. 'Tis the season to be freezin'!

Marya: What have you been working on lately?

Marya: I've got a picture book idea for which I'm doing some preliminary drawings and test-driving some final art approaches. More than that I shan't say for fear of jinxing! And my dining room table is covered with family photographs needing to be labeled and pasted into books.

Marya: Is sounds like you have a lot going on. I would like my readers to get to know you a little. Can you tell me a little about your childhood? Did you like to read?

Cheryl: We moved a lot when I was growing up here in western Missouri. Like
Carmen's dad in my novel, Just For You to Know, my dad, like his own dad, was "the restless kind." So I was the new kid at school more than once - a shy, dorky, insecure, crabby, artistic new kid who comforted herself with books. Things, dialogue, outcomes all remain unchanged in books. That's very comforting. I read and reread the Laura Ingalls Wilder books - 10 times! - and Maud Hart Lovelace's series of Betsy- Tacy books, set in Deep Valley [Mankato actually], Minnesota, in the years 1897-1917. I called up Mrs. Lovelace years later to ask her if her fictionalized childhood was truly so happy. "Yes," she said,
"it really was." My best friend M. and I agreed that, for us, the Laura & Mary and the Betsy-Tacy books WERE our happy childhoods. It wasn't a question of liking reading, we needed it. Real life can be pretty trying. I avoided it. Still do! On the other hand, I loved reading the encyclopedia - still do. Go figure.

Marya: Do you have any funny childhood stories that you would be willing to
share with my readers?

Cheryl: My nicest memory of my family - I'm the oldest of seven kids, did I tell you that? Well, I was, and I was none too gracious about it, but it was rather nice when, on Sunday afternoons, Dad and Mom would bundle their brood into the back of the car for a drive into the country. Coming home of an evening, Mom's red hair was so pretty in the setting sun. Once, when I was ten, we went on a trip to Mansfield, MO, to visit the home of Laura & Almanzo Wilder. They'd passed away, but they left the door unlocked on their house, Rocky Ridge. I saw the desk upon which Mrs. Wilder wrote her books, a page or two of her first drafts. Pencil on tablet paper. I saw pictures of what Laura & her sisters & Ma & Pa really looked like.

Marya: I too grew up reading Laura's books and I hope one day to go an a pilgrimage to all the places where she lived. I was wondering something. Have you always liked to draw?

Cheryl: Yup. An obsessive doodler I was.

Marya: What did you draw when you were young?

Cheryl: Beautiful ladies with long flowing hair. You have my permission to smile & roll your eyes.

Marya: I am a pretty mediocre artist, but I liked to draw when I was growing up. For a long time all I drew where mountains with waterfalls, trees, and the dove of peace. No idea why! Did you get formal training in art?

Cheryl: I went to college at what is now known as the University of Central Missouri. I graduated with an art education degree so yes, I had quite a few art classes. Knowing what I don't know now, I wish I'd taken more, but I got a good grounding in drawing and watercolor.

Marya: On a more personal note, I know that you have pets. What are they like and have you ever thought of creating a book about them?

Cheryl: Some of my pets, Ruby the Basset Hound and Maude the Scottie, have appeared in my picture books. They passed on to the Blue Beyond some years ago. Nowadays I have Mimi the black & white Shih Tsu and two cats who avoid one another entirely: Lily and Scary Merrie.

Marya: When I am not working I like to knit, cook, ski, ride my bike, and do
yoga. When you are not working what do you like to do with yourself?

Cheryl: I READ. Only yesterday I devoured a delightful book, Buried
Alive, the words as snappy as the day they were written 100 years ago by Arnold Bennett. And I've just begun reading H.W. Brands' bio of Andy Jackson, in genuine expectation of doing a book on him soon. Andy, not H.W. :-)

Marya: Yes indeed! I forgot to mention that I too love to read. In fact I am hoping to convert an old barn on my land into a library so that I can have a place to store all my books. Thanks again Cheryl for joining me.

Cheryl: Thank YOU, absolutely, Ms. Marya.

Cheryl will be back with us for part three of this Chat next week.