Next of kin

by Roger Fouts

Roger Fouts fulfilled humankind's age-old dream of talking to animals by pioneering communication with chimpanzees through sign language. His decades of groundbreaking work with these amazing animals - who share more than 98 percent of our DNA - made scientific history as their unprecedented dialogues opened a window into chimpanzee consciousness and the origins of human language and intelligence. Now, in Next of Kin, Fouts tells the dramatic story of his personal and professional odyssey from novice researcher to celebrity scientist to impassioned crusader for the rights of animals. At the heart of this captivating book is Fouts's magical thirty-year friendship with Washoe, whom we watch grow from a mischievous baby chimp fresh out of the NASA space program into the matriarch of a clan of chimpanzees who fill these pages with tales of humor and heartbreak, pathos and love. Living and conversing with these sensitive creatures has given Fouts a profound appreciation of how much we share