The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses animal abuse, death by suicide, and substance abuse.

In fall 2020, Jane and Doug are finally able to meet again, but on Zoom. Doug recently lost two friends: One died by suicide after losing his job and another died by substance abuse. Jane carries the laptop around her home in Bournemouth, showing him her keepsakes and photos of important people and animals in her life. She shows him a series of stuffed animals she uses in her public education lectures.

Her most prized possessions that symbolize “hope” include a bell made from a land mine in Mozambique; a piece of fabric used by someone who lost a leg in a landmine explosion; concrete from the Berlin wall; limestone from the quarry Nelson Mandela did forced labor in; two feathers sent to her by Don Merton from the hatchlings of the black robin “Blue”; a 26-inch feather from the California condor.

Doug wonders what it is about Jane that enables her to be a “beacon of hope.” Jane credits her family, growing up in World War II, and witnessing the fall of the Nazi regime as early factors in her growth.