Ellen Drake
Ellen Drake was born in New York, grew up in Kansas and was educated at Stanford University in California and Utah State University. She held an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and an MSc in Wildlife Biology. Soon after graduating Ellen left the United States to travel the world. She preferred unusual modes of transport: she hitchhiked around Africa, through Europe, and in the US and she took ocean voyages by cargo ship. Ellen also held some pretty unusual jobs. Her first was as a student in Utah where she was required to howl at coyotes for a research project. She worked in tourism in Ethiopia, Kenya and Botswana, journalism in Kansas and Botswana, for USAID in India and on Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee research project in Tanzania.
Ellen’s first love wass writing and her work as a freelance writer allowed her to delve into all manner of interesting and adventurous topics, and meet fascinating people along the way. Her writings appeared in a wide variety of media, including journals, magazines, textbooks, brochures and film scripts, and have been published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Botswana, South Africa and Sweden.
Ellen was especially concerned with environmental issues. She had an inquisitive and, judging by her baobab collection, an acquisitive mind. She was also passionately against racism, cultural and religious intolerance. She believed that all living things – plants as well as animals – are worthy of respect, and should be preserved and protected in their own right, not simply because of short-term benefits to humanity.
Ellen passed away in the United States in 2009, after a long illness. The world is an emptier place after the loss of this wonderful person.