No One Loved Gorillas More : Dian Fossey - Letters from the Mist - Hardcover

Camilla De La Bédoyère

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 095451033X ISBN 13: 9780954510336

Publisher: Palazzo, 2005

Synopsis

"In the early hours of December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin by an unknown attacker - "No One Loved Gorillas More" are the words inscribed upon her gravestone. For 18 years, Dian had lived among the mountain gorillas of central Africa, dedicating all her energy to protecting them. Living in basic conditions at Karisoke, the research center she established below the steep ravines of a rain-shrouded volcano in Rwanda, Dian gradually became accepted by the apes she encountered and developed an extraordinary bond with them." "Undeterred by the instability of the tribal and political wars raging around her, Dian struggled against poachers, Rwandan officials' opposition, ill health, personal tragedy, and the isolation of her surroundings with indefatigable obstinacy and unstinting determination. She collected a vast amount of data and her work became the world's primary focus for mountain gorilla conservation and research. She raised money to pay for anti-poaching measures, set up the first ranger patrols in Rwanda, and through the pages of National Geographic magazine and her book Gorillas in the Mist, focused international attention on the plight of the great apes." Here, for the time, Dian's story is told through the letters she wrote to her friends and family, set in context by a compelling narrative. These previously unpublished letters provide a unique and intimate portrait and bring to life the rewards and setbacks of Dian's years with the creatures who she called "the greatest of the great apes." These impressive yet shy animals are photographed by Bob Campbell, who worked closely with Dian and captured many unique and extraordinary images.

About this title

About the Author

Camilla de la Bedoyere works as a journalist and writer and has written books on natural history. Bob Campbell began his career in photography in 1963. He took on an assignment with the National Geographic Society and was sent to Dian Fossey's camp in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* It's been more than 20 years since the publication of Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey's indelible account of her adventures among the mountain gorillas of the Virguna volcanoes of Rwanda--and since her unsolved murder--and her story remains as compelling as ever. One of Louis Leakey's "Trimates," along with orangutan expert Birute Galdikas and chimpanzee specialist Jane Goodall, who authored this riveting volume's foreword, Fossey not only pioneered the scientific study of a magnificent animal, she also imperiled herself by confronting the poachers invading the great apes' nature reserve. A fresh perspective on Fossey's complex personality, profound devotion to mountain gorillas, and world-changing achievements is forged in a dynamic combination of Bob Campbell's stunning and intimate photographs, journalist and nature writer de la Bedoyere's nimble and moving biography, and Fossey's own colorful and, by turns, frank and dissembling letters to family and friends, vigorous correspondence never before published. This poignant assemblage reveals both the intense joy and immense suffering Fossey experienced during her 18-year sojourn among Rwanda's mountain gorillas, whose descendents, in spite of all the horrors that have transpired, live on in their misty, and vigilantly protected, rain forests. Donna Seaman
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Edition details

• Publisher: Palazzo
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 095451033X
• ISBN 13: 9780954510336
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192