“What did Tarzan do? He married the wrong Jane,” she joked. “That’s when my dream began. I would grow up, go to Africa, live with wild animals and write books.”
She said people dismissed her ideas as “ridiculous.” Except her mom, Margaret “Vanne” Morris-Goodallwho died at age 94 in 2000. (She is also predeceased by her second husband Derek Brycesonwho died after a battle with cancer in 1980 at 57.)
“She said, ‘If you really want to do something like this, you’re going to have to work really hard. Take advantage of every opportunity. And if you don’t give up, hopefully you find a way.’ And that’s the message I take around the world, particularly in disadvantaged communities. And I wish mom was alive and maybe she’s listening.'”
And her legacy continues with grandkids Angel van Lawick, Merlin van Lawick and Nick van Lawick, Grub’s three kids with wife Maria van Lawick.
“My grandmother never really pushes us to do anything,” Angel told The Press Democrat in 2014. “She just tells us, ‘Never lose hope. If you really want to do something, go ahead and do it.'”
