Light Shining Through the Mist: A Photobiography of Dian Fossey - Hardcover

Mathews, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792273001 ISBN 13: 9780792273004

Publisher: National Geographic Kids, 1998

Synopsis

In 1966, with no experience or formal scientific training, Dian Fossey left the United States and set up a gorilla observation camp in the Virunga mountains of Africa. Sponsored by Dr. Louis Leakey, the 34-year-old Fossey had embarked on a 19-year project that began as a field study of gorillas but expanded into a labor of love and a mission to protect the magnificent species from extinction. No human ever came closer to the mysterious mountain gorillas than Fossey, but as her relationship with the animals grew, her fierce battle against poachers did also. Fossey was murdered in 1985, but her legacy endures. This dramatic story of her vital work is an important record for a new generation of readers.

About this title

About the Author

Tom L. Matthews and his family, which includes two pampered cats, live in McLean, Virginia. He graduated from Brooklyn College with a B.A. in history and a concentration in anthropology. Later, he earned an M.S. in communications. As a scriptwriter and television director, he has produced such documentaries as How’s Business: The Quiet Revolution, which won first prize at the Rehabilitation International Festival and a Citation of Excellence from the Presidential Commission on Private Initiatives.

Reviews

Grade 4-6-Gorgeous photography and a fascinating story combine to create a fitting tribute to Dian Fossey and her study of gorillas in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda and the Congo. Frequent use of quotes from her journals and full-color photographs of the zoologist at work provide insight into her dedication to primate study and her later crusade to thwart the poaching and killing of mountain gorillas. Although the author briefly discusses his subject's family and early life, he concentrates on Fossey's recruitment by Dr. Louis Leakey and on her work in Africa, giving readers a clear understanding of her deep feelings and awe of these animals and her fight to save them. An afterword briefly describes the continued work of Fossey's Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda. Suzanne Freedman's Dian Fossey (Raintree, 1997) and Jack Roberts's Dian Fossey (Lucent, 1995) provide more biographical material but lack the stunning visual appeal of this title.
Cynthia M. Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukee,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Matthews's first book chronicles Dian Fossey's life in full-color photographs as well as in even-handed commentary that includes the controversial aspects of her attempts to protect the mountain gorillas of Africa; she destroyed poachers' traps, shot at their cattle, and burned their camps to keep them from killing off the creatures she knew to be endangered. This biography follows Fossey's growing love of animals through adolescence and college, covering her meeting on her first trip to Africa with Dr. Leakey through whom she was able to get the position that evolved into her life's work, and perhaps to her murder. Photographs of Fossey with her beloved gorilla, Digit, help readers understand her retaliations when the animal was violently killed. Matthews also confronts readers with one of the major issues conservationists facewhich means of preserving a species are justified, given the end goal? A strong, often compassionate debut. (maps, chronology, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4^-6. Fully illustrated with photographs, most in color, this book introduces Dian Fossey, who studied mountain gorillas in their habitat. She founded the Karisoke Research Center in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, in 1967 and spent many years observing the behavior and social patterns of gorillas, defending them from hunters and sometimes interacting with them. Many of the photos of Fossey and the gorillas are outstanding for their clarity, composition, and lighting. Although the photos of Fossey will greatly appeal to young readers, the text makes clear that Karisoke was no Eden. Matthews discusses the controversy Fossey's work engendered, the killing of gorillas by poachers, and Fossey's murder in 1985. Appendixes include a chronology, a bibliography, and a list of Web sites. Young people, particularly those intrigued by the many volumes on Jane Goodall's primate research, will find this book well worth reading. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic Kids
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792273001
• ISBN 13: 9780792273004
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64