Clare Hodgson Meeker,
award-winning National Geographic author of Rhino Rescue!
“John Crocker was lucky to be a student at Stanford University when Jane Goodall taught there in 1970 and recruited field assistants for her groundbreaking research with the chimpanzees of Gombe, Africa. In Following Fifi, John recounts his life-changing year living in a grass hut in the Gombe jungle observing and recording the chimpanzees’ behavior under Jane’s mentorship. With a wealth of insights and wry humor, he shows how this extraordinary experience inspired him to become a family doctor and a better father by applying what he learned in Gombe to his human patients and to raising his two sons.”
“Dr. John Crocker’s FOLLOWING FIFI is a rare find: A real-life adventure story that works just as well as anthropology and a common-sense guide for modern human parents. A career family physician as well as a father, Crocker recalls his experiences alongside Jane Goodall with the wild chimpanzees of Africa as an object lesson in human behavior and society. His central conclusion -- that the chimps’ primal child-raising techniques are often more effective than our oh-so-sophisticated ones, should be a tonic for today’s stressed and anxious parents.”
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Peter Ames Carlin
Bruce
Kirkus Reviews
“Beautiful descriptions of the natural surroundings in Tanzania and the importance of spending time in nature weave their ways throughout the narrative.An absorbing tale of the profundity of the human-chimp bond and how it can inform interactions among humans.”