Sounding It Out

The other day I couldn’t come up with the name Jane Goodall. Of all the names, that’s not one I thought I’d ever struggle to recall. Jane Goodall!! I sat for a while, picturing Jane. Thinking about the amazing work she did with chimps. Remembering the criticism lobbed at her by scientists for giving her study animals names. Envisioning the famous photos of her as a young woman crouched alongside a chimp family, or with her hand reaching out graceful as a dancer’s to a curious baby. Recalling how she gently befriended animals few had ever seen in the wild, much less observed up close. I even remembered the name of her non-profit—Roots & Shoots!—and basked in the memory of interviewing her about it for National Geographic. But her own name remained just out of reach. I went through the alphabet. I thought of people I know to make sure she didn’t share one of their names. Nothing helped. This went on for a good four or five minutes, a long time in this context, until finally, finally, it…