The next of kin a documentation of mind matter and love. This book was very
inspirational it gives you a whole new outlook on the experience and the
feelings of animals. Trying to relate with how much Roger Fouts has accomplished
in his life is unbearable he has had so many experiences that have been recorded
in this book. It was the type of book that was hard to put down from the
beginning. In the next few pages I will discuss parts of the book that really
moved me and left an impression on me. There are so many great parts it was hard
to pick just a few to look into. I read this book in the first few weeks of
school and re-read in the last two weeks, also I have bought a copy for my
sister who is very interested in primate psychology and it has so much
information and personal experience in it that it is in a way a textbook for
primate psychology. Washoe was an extraordinary animal saved out of NASA by very
patient and brilliant people, it was very exciting to see the advancements that
she had made throughout the book. Not only her but also the few people that had
have been working with her. The Gardner’s the first care takers of Washoe was
saved by the Gardner’s had put a lot of trust into Roger and he proved to be
able to accept and work with Washoe from the beginning on. Fouts, started off as
a little kid knowing his only monkey to be curious George, never realizing that
George was not a monkey but a chimp. Growing up on a farm Fouts was always
around many animals tending and working with them. Realizing the importance of
the entire animal Fouts than realized the loyalty when his dog brownie had died
jumping in front of the tractor to save his fallen brother. The care for animal
was in all of the family even the mother who had many old time stories to tell
about animal intelligences. A life and environment changing situation had
happened when Fouts was about twelve years old and the only ones still in the
house out of nine children was him and another brother. Fouts parents packed up
the kids and stuff and move to Los Angeles, California. Around this time in his
life he was dreaming of becoming a psychologist. Fouts family had a way of not
finishing school but become loyal workers, and Fouts was devoted to finishing
college, the only one in his family with the intention of getting more schooling
was his mother who at age 52 decided to go back to high school and finish, she
to was very interest in the healing of the mind which, also was a inspiration
for Fouts to pursue this career. When Fouts started his college career at
Compton, his intention was to study human psychology but it was required to take
animal psychology as well. The very first animal behavior he was thought that
they were mindless creatures who rigid behavior, unlike that of Humans, is
controlled by instinct. After much schooling Fouts applied to many clinical
schools. After time and time again Fouts was denied and was pushed towards a
second-tier school in experimental psychology-or rat psych, as it is
affectionately known studies of animal in cages. The University of Nevada
accepted Fouts in to their experimental psychology program. Time goes on and
Fouts get the cal to change the rest of his life, the call was from a Dr. Paul
Secord, telling Fouts “Teaching a chimpanzee to talk,” with disbelief roger
replied back “what”, and the Dr. repeated himself. Fouts went on to take it
in with full stride just trying to get his foot in the door, with his main
intention of working with kids this entire time. Ready for the job Fouts had one
more task into getting the job, and that task was getting through to a very
strict man called Allen Gardner. Fouts had taken many courses in animal
psychology and statistics. To Garner this was just garbage he didn’t believe
that everything was to be solved in a laboratory that animal had to watched and
worked with? The interview was going terrible, Fouts pulled out all the tricks
telling him how he was excited to take courses with two well-known philosophers
of science. Garner shot back with “Science doesn’t need philosophy.” Fouts
was very disappointed feeling that it was all over, the interview was over and
Gardner asked Fouts if he would like to go see Washoe, Fouts did and as they
approached the gated area Fouts noticed two adults playing with a child under a
tree. Than a beginning point of a life long friendship began, Washoe noticed
them looking and began running at Gardner and Fouts and it Leaped up over the
fence right into Fouts arms giving him a big hug right when Fouts really need
one amazed that it jumped to him Fouts noticed himself hugging her back. Garner
knew that Washoe had like him. Garner called a few day’s later telling Fouts
that he had the research assistant’s job. Fouts knew who exactly had chosen
him for that job, it came out of Garners mouth but Washoe had found herself a
really good playmate. I went into so much detail in the first few chapters
because I believe that, it is the most essential it shows the importance of your
personal thought and beliefs. It shows me that perspectives of one professional
are totally different from another. That life’s little differences may take a
good turn and push you towards the time of your life, and you might just find
what you have been looking for. It just takes time and patience. Time and time
went on Fouts and Washoe grew closer together Fouts was never looked upon by
Washoe as parental figure but just an older brother, that like to be around all
the time. Greg Gaustaud another graduate student who entered Washoe’s life
about the same time, he to was also looked at as an older brother. Being with
Washoe was not as much as a job as it was having a good time. Washoe looked out
for each student if one was mad at another it would stick up for the other guy.
Sometimes they would take advantage o that at sign to Washoe that the other guy
hurt him and Washoe would chase after the other guy until he signed that he was
sorry, but there was always sweet revenge that the same thing would be done to
him when he lasts expects it. There was never any doubt that Susan Nichols one
of the women in the graduate class which made it much more paternal if she acted
to cry and tell Washoe that it was me that Fouts was the one that did it, Washoe
would chase him around till he apologized and kneeled before her to show
submission and my apology. Fouts struggle with the relationship between him and
his first dog Brownie. That his first dog never evoked the deep and tangled
emotions of friendship, competiveness, and anger and love that he had felt for
that little chimp. He sometime would have to make a self-recollection that
Washoe was not a human and could not be compared to as one of his brothers, but
after a while that distinction was meaningless. Time and time went on Washoe was
learning more and more signs by just watching each other, she would have child
like tendencies of signing wrong but would later on figure it out just like a
child corrects its talking when it get older and more experience. The Garners
had left Washoe and Fouts had taken the responsibility. In 1973 Fouts was flown
to Yale’s University to go higher up the ladder in his career. Yale’s
experience was a bad one it was not like he wanted it to be, he had came to a
conclusion that he needed to fulfill his fantasy and find something for the
chimps in a good and clean way of teaching like back at the Gardner’s back
yard. With that he declined Yale’s teaching opportunities and moved on. By the
mid 70’s Fouts seemed to have everything his wife, children, living in a
little country home just like he grew up on and remembered. He was also doing
very well with a riding wave of ape language research that had brought him
professional acclaim and research funding. Working out of the University of
Oklahoma, which was the center of the universe when it came to chimpanzee
signings. His work was being published regularly in the most respected journals,
and doctoral candidates were flocking to Oklahoma to work with the chimps and
Fouts. 1974, Fouts was invited to give a presentation on chimpanzee’s language
acquisition at the world’s first Conference on the Behavior of Great Apes, in
Austria. The meeting was consisted of some of the finest primentologist such as
Junichiro Itani, Diane Fosey, Toshida Nishida, Birut Galdikas, and Jane Goudall.
Looking back Fouts was living a dream working with what he want and having a
good life, but it was hard for him to grasp the science of chimpanzees which in
fact meant life time imprisonment far from there native African homes. Fouts was
starting to see that all his work was made possible only by the interactions of
his chimpanzee’s research subjects. He thought he had become a jailer. His
day-to-day action includes, cages, locks, keys, leads, cattle prods, and guns,
and they were totally routine. He had fought and won small battles. The
juveniles got their rundevaal shelter on the island. He got permission to take
them on walks to forage in the woods. Burris another chimp, got the right to
live alone. He carried blanks instead of live ammo. But still in his mind he was
a jailer, but a nice one. He knew that every morning he would let them out of
their cells, put on their leads, and lead them into the island. By now project
Washoe was fir and foremost a cross-fostering experiment, in which a chimpanzee
socially and emotionally attached to a human family. The feeling was mutual.
Fouts, college Sellmon was getting a little overboard with the control factor of
the chimps and was asking too much with so little. He thought of idiotic ideas
to keep chimps from escaping such as changing Doberman pinchers up to fences for
the element of surprise. Fouts was very upset and was looking more into the
future and what he had done in the past. Fouts, to him had broken the first
commandment of behavioral science. “Thou shall not love thy research
project,” he was being paid to love his research project to teach it language
in a natural family setting. By the time he had realized that when the
experiment was over, just like other scientist that he noticed were not so
emotionally attached to their research subject, the attachment was suppose to be
gone. For Fouts it was not gone the attachment, family like, and loving feeling
is still there and will always be there. Washoe know in has been pregnant, and
is going to be giving birth she was very excited and proud to be a mother. But
tragedy would strike when Washoe’s baby had died. With that Fouts was starting
to realize that he turning into something he despised, Lemmon he thought in a
few years he would take over the institute and be making the rules and doing
other research to pay the bill and it wouldn’t be like what it was. Something,
that he loved and had so much enjoyed to do, something that when he got up in
the morning he looked forward to go, not feeling poisoned and his soul was dying
every day he went to see the chimps in “prison.” Late 1977, Fouts had
submitted his grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to study “the
possibility that infants chimps will acquire sign language from its signing
chimps mothers.” He had also been looking for a chimp sanctuary, and as little
time went on the search was more and more urgent. A few scientists looking to
conduct a study that was of hepatitis B apprehended Lemmon; they wanted to test
the vaccines. They had said that it would not kill the chimps that were true.
But, damage later could happen to liver, and kidneys. Luckily the contract did
not go through for Lemmon. The search for the sanctuary was still going strong.
1978, Washoe was pregnant again, by fellow chimp Ally; from here pregnancy he
had received his grant of 187,000 dollars. The money would nor only finance the
study, but would also give some independence from Lemmon and protect Washoe’s
baby from plans of Lemmon might have for him or her, and protection for
Washoe’s partner Ally. A man called Robert Towne, had heard of Fouts and
wanted him to help the actors act more and more lie chimps, because the movie he
was working on was Tarzan. Fouts insisted instead of going half way around the
world they could just go to Oklahoma, to watch and film the movie. With Warner
Brothers backing up Towne, they could easily come up with more money to help out
the place and to make it accessible for them to film, while making it a better
place. After all of this and the excitement of Fouts, Towne and the agreement of
Warner Brothers it was all suddenly ruined. By the one man spited the most by
Fouts, Lemmon, he reportedly was seen beating and kicking his horse because it
was to old to rude, Towne seen this and wanted nothing to do with Lemmon and
since Lemmon owned the chimps there was nothing for Towne to do but take his
movie elsewhere. With this huge disappointment Fouts dreams felt crushed, months
later Washoe gave birth to a ailing boy, named Sequoyah it was not doing to
good, illness would take over at time making Sequoyah deathly ill. After two
months death rang it bell over Sequoyah. Lemmon thought this matter was somewhat
humorous, and Fouts was ready to leave. Fouts worried about Washoes depression
found another baby called Loulis, when introduced to Washoe it was something
they did not expect Washoe would only look down at it not picking it up as
expected. When Washoe was give Loulis to hold, Loulis was anxious to get out of
her arms, Washoe tried games to get the baby to come and play but it was not
working. The next morning a dramatic change had happened, Washoe stood up on two
feet, and vigorously signed “come baby come baby” with a loud slapping
noise. Loulis was jolted awake and jumped into Washoes arms, and fell back
asleep. From that day on they slept together and Loulis was dependent on Washoe.
Months later Fouts moved Washoe, Loulis, and Ally to a air base field with out
permission of Lemmon hoping he would just write it off. But it would not end up
that way Lemmon wanted him back immediately, to sell. With the loss of Ally was
the arrival of Moja, which was part of the Gardners second experiment. Moja was
kind of a pain in the ass biting and refusing to eat the Gardners where beside
themselves, either the arrival of Moja the main teacher was Washoe, see Moja was
never around any older chimps and Washoe put her right in line. His final
destination, in 1980 the most unlikely place opened up in a small college town
in Ellensburg Washington, called Central Washington University. A professor
calling the next day to tell him about the rooms available was persisting upon
Fouts unknown. Fouts was off to Ellensburg, with the chimps and his family
looking back thinking of only a decade before that Washoe was just a baby and
know the chimps and his human family are more of a kin. Time and Time went on
with the addition of other chimps, and wonderful environment, Fouts had found
what he had been looking for and enjoying once more. The Next Of Kin, this book
was a great book it moved me very much just hearing the struggles and the
persistence of Fouts for the love of the animal is awesome. What I respect most
that he is not one of those scientists that pluck them out of Africa and begin
working with them but is taking in other peoples mishaps and screwups. He takes
them in and tries to give them the best help and love possible. I would
recommend this book to anyone who loves a good true story. From the beginning to
the end Washoes and Fouts love was like the love a brother and sister, from the
first day when she leaped into his arms, but why he had discovered that she had
the uncanny knack for seeking out and comforting those who were sad and hurt,
but he never did see her do that again. Maybe she just knew he was the one.