Jane Goodall’s Goddaughter Shares a Rare Look at Their Relationship Through Hundreds of Handwritten Postcards (Exclusive)

Jordan GreeneThu, August 13, 2026 at 8:49 PM UTC

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Sarah Wald with Jane Goodall, and the postcards.Credit: Sarah Wald -

Sarah Wald shares how Jane Goodall became her godmother after a lifelong friendship with her parents

Goodall maintained their bond through handwritten postcards detailing her travels and work around the world

Wald credits Goodall’s influence for inspiring her career as a death doula and her connection to nature

Sarah Wald only saw Jane Goodall once or twice most years. But whenever the renowned late conservationist came to her hometown of Los Angeles, Calif., they found a way to reconnect — over dinner if there was time, or a cup of tea if there wasn’t.

Those occasional visits were part of a relationship that stretched back to before Wald was born. Her parents first met Goodall — who died of natural causes on Oct. 1 at age 91 — in Tanzania in 1990, during the 30th anniversary celebration of Gombe National Park.

“A close friend of my dad’s was hosting it but was late, and Jane was sitting alone,” Wald, 28, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “My father, who was a very crass, old-school movie producer from the Bronx, went and sat next to Jane, and his opening line was, ‘I don’t give a f--- about monkeys.’ ”

Goodall quickly corrected him: They were chimps, not monkeys. The exchange broke the ice, and Wald says from there a lifelong friendship was born.

“Jane appreciated that my dad treated her like a normal person and wasn’t afraid to be himself around her,” Wald says.

“My mom and Jane also quickly bonded, since my mom was a well-mannered British woman too,” she adds. “Jane eventually asked my mom to be part of her honorary sisterhood, and when I was born, she asked to be my godmother, since they were honorary sisters.”

Sarah Wald with her late-godmother Jane Goodall.Credit: Sarah Wald

Growing up, Wald came to know Goodall not simply as the celebrated primatologist the rest of the world knew, but as a family friend and godmother. Goodall visited her school, spoke to her class and even helped when Wald was assigned a book report about her.

To Wald, Goodall was a “funny godmother” with a sharp sense of humor who, despite understanding what she represented to millions of people, was happy to simply be Jane.

“The last time I saw her, we were at a dinner in a friend’s backyard, and she made everyone sit in the grass,” Wald recalls. “She scolded me when I was still sitting in a chair at the table. I went and sat next to her in the grass, and we held our plates of Indian food and just chatted about life and work, like you do when you catch up with family you haven’t seen in a year.”

“She was amused — maybe horrified — by all my tattoos I had gotten since I had last seen her but was never once judgmental,” Wald continues.

Sarah Wald and her family with Jane Goodall over the years.Credit: Sarah Wald

Because Goodall spent much of her life traveling, however, their bond was largely maintained across distances. After years of writing to Wald’s parents, Goodall began sending postcards directly to Wald in 2003, filling them with snippets from her travels, family life and work.

“The postcards would come from all over the world,” Wald recalls. “It was always exciting and inspiring to see how much she traveled, all for the love of making the world a better place.”

“Those postcards helped teach me how to read and helped develop my love of nature,” she adds.

A photo of the postcards Jane Goodall sent Sarah Wald.Credit: Sarah Wald

Wald received countless postcards in the mail from her godmother over the years; looking through them now, she says there’s one that she cherishes most.

“The letter Jane wrote from the peak at Gombe is one of the most special to me, since it’s a first-hand account of Jane reliving not only an important time in her life, but in history,” Wald says.

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“It’s an honor to be able to receive a first-hand account from Jane about her time in Gombe, especially written in the place it all started for her,” she adds. “She even takes a pause in the letter when some of the chimps come screeching by.”

Wald kept those personal memories — and much of her correspondence with Goodall — largely to herself for years. Eventually, her boyfriend persuaded her to share the postcards publicly, pointing out that they offered a rare window into a woman whose influence extended far beyond the people who knew her personally.

With this in mind, one day Wald took to TikTok, opening up about her relationship with the late activist and sharing a glimpse of the postcards. The video quickly went viral, inspiring her to continue to share about Goodall.

One recent video of the postcards has reached nearly 250,000 views and hundreds of comments.

“Those letters are a treasure 🥹,” National Geographic commented.

“Damn if this isn’t the biggest flex I’ve ever seen,” another user wrote.

Someone else chimed in, “I made a collage of her in my living room 😭 this is amazing, what treasures you have!”

Jane Goodall’s letter to Sarah Wald from the top of Gombe.Credit: Sarah Wald

“I’d be lying if I said I was shocked when it did well. After all, it is Jane, and I’m aware how special it is to have hundreds of handwritten cards from someone as historically important as her,” Wald says.

“I’m mostly just so touched and inspired by how many people were so inspired by her that it informed their own career paths,” Wald continues. “It really goes to show how one person’s impact can cause a butterfly effect of other people dedicating their lives to making a difference.”

Jade Goodall signed National Geographic for Sarah Wald.Credit: Sarah Wald

Wald’s own path is part of that ripple effect. The values she absorbed from Goodall — service, purpose and a sense of responsibility to the world around her — eventually led her to start her own creative agency and become a death doula.

“My relationship with Jane and the postcards has taught me that life is best lived when you’re working toward a greater purpose or goal that can help others,” Wald says. “We are all here to do our part, whether that’s just cleaning up trash when you can or dedicating your life to a bigger mission.”

“I also have a deep connection to nature and animals that feels spiritual to me, and that’s something I got from Jane too,” Wald adds. “We’re just as much a part of nature as any other species is. We’ve just disconnected ourselves from it.”

In making their correspondence public, Wald hopes the postcards can do for others some of what Goodall did for her: encourage them to consider their own place in the world and what they might contribute to it.

“I hope people feel inspired by the postcards to find a cause they’re passionate about, or even just to get outside and be in nature more,” she says.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”