AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS)

In Flight, 30 August 1989. Letter. Creasing from mailing. Near Fine. A four-page handwritten SIGNED letter on both sides of Goodall's 7" x 10-1/4" personal stationery with a large illustration of chimpanzees at the bottom, addressed to Nancy [Reynolds]. Excellent content describing her travels and experiences being filmed by HBO with chimps. In part: "Met up with the film crew in West Palm Beach. It was HOT, humid, muddy. But the chimps were great.... We had to look at the photos taken by the Geo photographer in West Africa. He is brilliant. Too much so. Each picture told a story of suffering and misery. So -- I couldn't sleep. Not at all." The next day Goodall in in San Antonio visiting the Southwest Biomedical Lab: "it is the best there is, for the chimps. But some of it is so utterly HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. But, though, right now, there are chimps in ghastly single cages, they will soon come out. The 'playground' is 9,000 square feet and is SUPER. And in two years there may be playgrounds for all the chimps. Including those infested with AIDS & Hepatitis. The Director needs support -- from me. So I HAVE to go. Another whole night without sleep!" The next day, still in Texas, she and her crew film at Primarily Primates, "set up by a young man who cares about animals very deeply. He became worried about the fate of animals who are cast adrift after they have been exploited and abused. Chimps used in movies; in circuses; no longer wanted by pet owners; 'surplus' chimps from zoos, from labs." She describes spending all morning with "a simply terrific" chimp named Willie from the movie PROJECT X. Goodall concludes, as often the case with her letters to Reynolds, with profuse thanks and compliments.

Nancy Clark Reynolds was a partner in Washington’s first woman-owned lobbying firm--Wexler, Reynolds, Harrison & Schule, Inc.--and a member of Ronald Reagan's inner circle. She led an interesting life, having dated J. D. Salinger and making over 80 trips to Africa where she befriended Jane Goodall as well as Richard Leakey.