Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives
An exhilarating quest into a remote African forest to examine chimpanzees and understand the roots of human behavior.

As a young student, John Crocker embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, spending eight months in the Gombe forest working with Jane Goodall. He followed families of wild chimpanzees from sunrise to sunset and learned the fundamental behavioral traits of these chimps as they raised their offspring.

One chimpanzee captivated him. Her name was Fifi, and she displayed extraordinary patience and reassurance toward her infant, Freud. Upon returning home and becoming a doctor, Crocker found himself incorporating the lessons he learned from Fifi into his work as a father and physician. When he witnessed his young patients rocketing around his exam room, he would picture Fifi’s patience and tacit approval of Freud’s uninhibited and joyful exploration.

Crocker shares how his time spent with our closest animal cousins has helped him better understand his patients with ADD, anxiety, and depression, and how primate traits hardwired into our own natural behavior help chimpanzees protect their community, raise their young, and survive. Finally, chronicling his return to Gombe thirty-six years later with his own son, he reflects on how his experience with the chimps has come full circle.

An illuminating book that will raise thought-provoking questions about the evolution of human behavior and the importance of patience and strong family bonds, Following Fifi provides a greater understanding of what it means to be human.
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Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives
An exhilarating quest into a remote African forest to examine chimpanzees and understand the roots of human behavior.

As a young student, John Crocker embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, spending eight months in the Gombe forest working with Jane Goodall. He followed families of wild chimpanzees from sunrise to sunset and learned the fundamental behavioral traits of these chimps as they raised their offspring.

One chimpanzee captivated him. Her name was Fifi, and she displayed extraordinary patience and reassurance toward her infant, Freud. Upon returning home and becoming a doctor, Crocker found himself incorporating the lessons he learned from Fifi into his work as a father and physician. When he witnessed his young patients rocketing around his exam room, he would picture Fifi’s patience and tacit approval of Freud’s uninhibited and joyful exploration.

Crocker shares how his time spent with our closest animal cousins has helped him better understand his patients with ADD, anxiety, and depression, and how primate traits hardwired into our own natural behavior help chimpanzees protect their community, raise their young, and survive. Finally, chronicling his return to Gombe thirty-six years later with his own son, he reflects on how his experience with the chimps has come full circle.

An illuminating book that will raise thought-provoking questions about the evolution of human behavior and the importance of patience and strong family bonds, Following Fifi provides a greater understanding of what it means to be human.
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Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives

Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives

Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives

Following Fifi: My Adventures Among Wild Chimpanzees: Lessons from our Closest Relatives

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Overview

An exhilarating quest into a remote African forest to examine chimpanzees and understand the roots of human behavior.

As a young student, John Crocker embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, spending eight months in the Gombe forest working with Jane Goodall. He followed families of wild chimpanzees from sunrise to sunset and learned the fundamental behavioral traits of these chimps as they raised their offspring.

One chimpanzee captivated him. Her name was Fifi, and she displayed extraordinary patience and reassurance toward her infant, Freud. Upon returning home and becoming a doctor, Crocker found himself incorporating the lessons he learned from Fifi into his work as a father and physician. When he witnessed his young patients rocketing around his exam room, he would picture Fifi’s patience and tacit approval of Freud’s uninhibited and joyful exploration.

Crocker shares how his time spent with our closest animal cousins has helped him better understand his patients with ADD, anxiety, and depression, and how primate traits hardwired into our own natural behavior help chimpanzees protect their community, raise their young, and survive. Finally, chronicling his return to Gombe thirty-six years later with his own son, he reflects on how his experience with the chimps has come full circle.

An illuminating book that will raise thought-provoking questions about the evolution of human behavior and the importance of patience and strong family bonds, Following Fifi provides a greater understanding of what it means to be human.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781681775685
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publication date: 12/05/2017
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.80(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

John Crocker has been practicing family medicine in Seattle for thirty-five years. He attended Stanford University, where he met Jane Goodall. He received his MD from Case Western School of Medicine in Cleveland. Dr. Crocker is a popular speaker on primate behavior and has written for the Huffington Post about lessons learned from our closest living relatives. This is his first book.

Jane Goodall continues to study and write about primate behavior and is the author of several books. She founded the Gombe Stream Research Center in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the Jane Goodall Institute for Wild Life Research, Education, and Conservation to provide ongoing support for field research on wild chimpanzees.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jane Goodall ix

Preface xiii

The Halo Players xvii

Map of study site location: Gombe Stream National Park xxvi

Illustration of author's hut in the Gombe forest xxvii

Part 1 Into the Forest 1

Chapter 1 Gombe Arrival 3

Chapter 2 Settling In 22

Chapter 3 A Day in the Life of Fifi and Freud 34

Chapter 4 Of Chimps and Men 52

Chapter 5 Madame Bee Holds Her Own 61

Chapter 6 Trust and Security 68

Chapter 7 My Friend and Mentor: Hamisi Matama 76

Chapter 8 Knowing Jane 88

Chapter 9 Leave-Taking 98

Part 2 The Medical Path 105

Chapter 10 Entering the Medical Field 107

Chapter 11 Forest Reflections: Jungle Influences in My Practice 118

Part 3 Return to Gombe 141

Chapter 12 Gombe Calling 143

Chapter 13 Reunion with Jane 148

Chapter 14 Gombe Return 156

Chapter 15 Back to the Forest 166

Chapter 16 Jane's Peak 174

Chapter 17 Finding My Place 188

Chapter 18 Forest Reflections: How Wild Chimpanzees Helped Make Me a Better Father 195

Chapter 19 A Path Less Traveled: Bubongo Village 204

Chapter 20 More Forest Reflections: Broadening My Perspective on Family Medicine 218

Chapter 21 Good-bye Again 229

Chapter 22 Keeping Up with Jane 235

Epilogue 251

Acknowledgments 257

Index 261

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