Annett Wolf

Last Saturday, my daughter and I attended an afternoon "salon" to hear a talk by humanitarian and documentary maker, Annett Wolf. This feisty 70+ lady was born in Copenhagen and has led a very varied and interesting life, working in the television industry in Denmark, spending many years in Hollywood, working with gangs in Los Angeles and single mothers with HIV. She is now the head of The Wolf Foundation, a conservation organization dedicated to preserving the Arctic White Wolf.

The goal of the project is to study the wolves in the Thelon Game Sanctuary in Canada's Northwest Territories and hopefully other wolf packs as well. Wolves would be fitted with tiny microchips and tracked via satellite to better understand how they are coping with climate change and the ever-encroaching presence of humans.

Ms. Wolf is a very inspiring speaker. Part of her message was that with commitment and respect as one's watchwords, anything in life is possible. She also had a very interesting way of looking at the various stages of her own life, segmenting them out according to her focus at the time. Not all of us are going to live the kind of life she has had, but I think that's an intriguing way to think of things, because although there are generally certain constants in our lives, we do go through stages where our focus shifts. I think realizing that could be important in helping us make plans and prioritize our time better.

I feel quite privileged to have heard Ms. Wolf speak, and so does my daughter. Thirteen-year-olds are not necessarily known for being easy to impress, but my daughter enjoyed the entire afternoon and felt quite touched by Ms. Wolf's words. I was very glad we attended.