A Bright Star

I heard on the news that Washoe, a female chimpanzee, who was part of a project to see if chimps could learn to communicate through the use of American Sign Language, has died. I was a young mother when I first saw a program about her on Nova. I was amazed and entranced by what I saw. My exposure that day led me to read the fascinating work of Jane Goodall and others, hungry for more information, fascinated by what I had seen. Washoe died on Oct 30th, surrounded by her "family." There is another bright star in the sky for a loving, intelligent being that helped to broaden our knowledge and who personally helped me realize that human kind is only a small, small portion of the universe. Washoe's legacy lives on. You only need to look at that beautiful face to see the intelligence and awareness there. Farewell, Washoe. You touched many, many more people than you could ever know. You can leave your own tribute or read the tributes by the many who were touched by her here: Tributes