I grew up in a very primate-centric household. My mom was part of a team at the Oregon Zoo in the 1970s that taught sign language to chimpanzees, and my dad worked as a vet tech for 30 years, taking care of all different kinds of monkeys. My parents would often refer to the relationships between my three brothers and me in terms of a primate social structure, (“He’s just making a play for the alpha position, dear”) and it was not uncommon for our dinner table conversations to dissolve into fear grimace contests or discussions about the pros and cons of feces-throwing. You can understand, then, that Jane Goodall, the famous primate researcher and conservationist, was almost like a religious icon in my family. But I like to think of her as a style icon too … Keep reading »
