JANE GOODALL, truly a great Brit and someone who has spent almost her entire adult life making a difference, will be the Grand Marshal of the 124th Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
The 78-year-old primatologist and campaigner is taking a break from her regular life at Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park to spend some time in Southern California, where she is also scheduled to an event in San Pedro with noted local animal activist, former actress Tippi Hedren.
Goodall told the LA Times she was surprised when asked to act as the Rose Parade Marshal as life in Africa is “kind of different” than that in Pasadena.
“When you grow up in England and spend all your time in Tanzania … I hadn’t heard of the Rose Parade,” Jane Goodall said. “It was only gradually that I realized what a big honor it is.”
But she plans to use the platform as a way to further her life’s work – that of wildlife conservation.
“It’s an opportunity to send a message to many people who might not hear it otherwise,” Goodall said. “I think they’ll be quite a few people who might have heard of me but might not think about the message I have.”
That message, Goodall explained, is simple.
“It’s up to us to save some of these amazing places that our children today can go to for the future,” she said. “Millions and millions of people making the right choices for the future is going to lead to the kind of change we need.”
