Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters: The Later Years

Dr. Jane Goodall DBE is an ethologist and environmentalist. From infancy she was fascinated by animal behavior, and in 1957 at 23 years old, she met the famous paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey while she was visiting a friend in Kenya. Impressed by her passion for animals, he offered her the chance to be the first person to study chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, in the wild. And so three years later Jane travelled from England to what is now Tanzania and, equipped with only a notebook, binoculars and determination to succeed, ventured into the then unknown world of wild chimpanzees.

Jane Goodall's research at Gombe national park has given us an in-depth understanding of chimpanzee behavior. The research continues, but in 1986, realizing the threat to chimpanzees throughout Africa, Jane travelled to six study sites. She learned first-hand not only about the problems facing chimpanzees, but also about those facing so many Africans living in poverty. She realized that only by helping local communities find ways of making a living without destroying the environment could chimpanzees be saved. Since then Jane has travelled the world raising awareness and learning about the threats we all face today, especially climate change and loss of biodiversity. Author of many books for adults and children and featured in countless documentaries and articles, Jane has reached millions around the world with her lectures, podcasts and writings. She was appointed as a UN Messenger of Peace, is a Dame of the British Empire and has received countless honors from around the world.

Dale Peterson is the coauthor with Jane Goodall of Visions of Caliban (a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Book) and the editor of her two books of letters, Africa in My Blood and Beyond Innocence. His other books include The Deluge and the Ark, Chimpanzee Travels, Storyville USA, Eating Apes, and (with Richard Wrangham) Demonic Males. They have been distinguished as an Economist Best Book, a Discover Top Science Book, a Bloomsbury Review Editor's Favorite, a Village Voice Best Book, and a finalist for the PEN New England Award and the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize in England. He resides in Massachusetts.