Paul Rosolie

I didn't learn to read until I was in the double digits because of dyslexia.

And so they read to us relentlessly.

And so I had known Jane Goodall since I was a child.

And so when I went to see her in New York City, I think it was at NYU, and I gave her a couple of chapters.

You get to meet her for two seconds.

You get a picture.

For some reason, I had the audacity to give her a couple of chapters of this book I wanted to write called Mother of God.

And I said, would you please take a look?

They're in a manila envelope with a little note saying like, just like you experienced Africa, I'm experiencing the Amazon.

And days later, she actually wrote back.

And she goes, these stories are incredible.

Your perspective on the jungle is great.

When you get a publisher, tell them, I will write you a beautiful endorsement for this.

And that moment changed everything because Jane Goodall waving her wand in my direction gave me the first legitimacy I'd ever had.

I don't have a PhD.

I didn't have an affiliation with an institution.

I just had the time I'd invested out of sight in the middle of the Amazon with my indigenous friend, JJ.

And for then I got to walk into places like Bloomsbury and Harper Collins and going, look, Jane Goodall says this is a good idea.

And just because of her that I got my first book deal.

And so that changed my entire life.