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Greenwood Biographies
Rachel Carson: A Biography
Few people have had as great an impact on the modern environmental movement as has the great writer and scientist Rachel Carson. This readable and up-to-date biography traces the famous environmentalist's development as a writer from earliest childhood through the publication of her best-known work Silent Spring (1962). Although Carson is now remembered almost exclusively for Silent Spring , which exposed the dangers of pesticides, this book was preceded by three best-sellers about the ocean Under the Sea-Wind (1941), The Edge of the Sea (1955), and The Sea Around Us (1951) which catapulted her to fame. In Rachel A Biography , Carson emerges as a talented scientist and exceptional writer who was able to share her sense of wonder about nature with both scientists and the general public.
Carson's great love of both writing and nature emerged at a young age and enabled her to overcome numerous obstacles in her life. She made a critical decision to switch her major in college from English to biology, she suffered financial problems during the Depression, and family and work responsibilities left her little time to write. She struggled for years to become a writer, working in relative obscurity for 15 years at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service writing pamphlets and brochures. She also endured harsh criticism of Silent Spring toward the end of her life while terribly ill. This biography shows how Carson overcame these difficulties and persevered to become one of the most influential writers of the last half of the 20th century. Her legacy as a champion of nature continues 50 years after her death.
Carson's great love of both writing and nature emerged at a young age and enabled her to overcome numerous obstacles in her life. She made a critical decision to switch her major in college from English to biology, she suffered financial problems during the Depression, and family and work responsibilities left her little time to write. She struggled for years to become a writer, working in relative obscurity for 15 years at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service writing pamphlets and brochures. She also endured harsh criticism of Silent Spring toward the end of her life while terribly ill. This biography shows how Carson overcame these difficulties and persevered to become one of the most influential writers of the last half of the 20th century. Her legacy as a champion of nature continues 50 years after her death.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Arlene R. Quaratiello
4 books1 followerArlene Quaratiello was the Coordinator of Library Instruction at Emerson College before she began her career as a college English instructor. For many years she taught writing courses at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH and several other schools in the Boston area. She has written numerous essays for biographical encyclopedias as well as Rachel Carson: A Biography, a volume in the Greenwood Press Biography series. In 2022, she was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
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April 23, 2023
Delightful book that is much more about writing than science – and presents this famous writer as if one was her next-door neighbor, reading a little of her writing, seeing the loving chaos of her busy life, and listening to her speak about the frustration of trying to find time to write between imposed family obligations. It’s a fast read and presents the reader a true appreciation of this award-winning writer who helped to change the history of our nation’s connection nature.
Born in the first decade of the last century, Ms. Carson grew up in a modest household, where her mom introduced her to the enjoyment of nature, reading, and writing. Her mom, a woman born in Cleveland in 1869. Rachel always knew she was going to be a writer, but it wasn’t until she had an inspiring biology teacher in her sophomore year of college.
The author points to the start of the Great Depression as a tough time for the young writer. She had her parents; her divorced sister and her two kids move into her small home. Soon her sister and dad were unable to help with the family’s income due to illnesses. Finances kept her from finishing her graduate work. Instead, she secured a job with the federal government in one of FDR’s depression programs. But as soon as she started to write, both her father, then her sister passed away. Rachel found herself taking care of her mom while raising her pre-teen children just as she secured a book contract with Simon & Schuster to write a book ultimately named Under the Sea-Wind: A Naturalists’ Picture of Ocean Life. She wrote the book after she worked all day and the three people in her house were sleeping and her cat kept her company. The onset of WWII, the subject matter, and perhaps the poor work of the major publisher to market the book brought in disappointing results for two years of part-time work; subsequently the income was also meager for so much work.
For years, the future star writer worked full-time for the government and wrote articles that sometimes earned her as much as her first book. She started working on her second book, Return to the Sea, again at night but with a different publisher. She earned a scholarship to take time away from work to research and write. She read a lot, corresponded with experts and explored, including traveling to Florida to capture nature in the place that later became the Everglades National Park. Quartiello highlighted that this book covered the complex food chain that is in the ocean, how waves can cause both destruction and create our stunning shorelines, connect the importance of waves to military operations of the recent world war, and how the oceans natural resources – including petroleum, salt, and gold – are critical to human’s lives. This author makes it sound like a book to learn and enjoy.
After writing the book, Carson had a cancer scare that took her away from returning to work so she sold the rights of sections of her book and received a Guggenheim Fellowship so she could write more. Life was looking up – she recovered, was able to write and, received positive reactions from her second book. The Sea won a spot on the New York Times best-seller list, hitting the top spot within a couple of months. Rachel told a friend, “I simply can’t understand the way the public has gotten so mad about the sea!” demonstrating her surprise by her own success. The book continued to do well, income exceeded Rachel’s expectations, and she was winning awards. Demonstrating her honestly and ethics, Rachel wrote to the Guggenheim Foundation that they should use her ongoing stipend to another worthy writer, sending back the check since her income was adequate for her to quit her federal position. Quaratiello included a few private letters showing Rachel’s true humility to becoming a star writer.
While she left her full-time federal job, Ms. Carson was still too distracted to put all her energies into writing because of her adopted family obligations. She started to work on a third sea book, The Edge of the Sea, a fascinating book that sounds more interesting than her most famous book, Silent Spring. It is a book about where the ocean and sea meet, the “marginal world of the shore.” She wrote this book from a cottage she bought in Maine that allowed her to see the sea from her living room. She finally hired a housekeeper who could help around the house and support her mother’s increasing demands brought on by her health.
This author makes Carson’s third book on the sea sound so interesting. While the book is based on Carson’s own observations of the Maine and Florida coastlines, she speaks about the geological history of sandy beaches compared to rocky coasts, the moving coastlines, and how tree trumps form swamps and islands. Carson writes beautifully, including: “Once this rocky coast beneath me was a plain of sand; then the se rose and found a new shoreline.” Her writing was like poetry, including: “On all these shores there are echoes of past and future: of the flow of time, obliterating yet containing all that has gone before; of the sea’s eternal rhythms.”
The book was an instant hit – with awards to follow. Carson continued to be distracted by taking care of the house and her aged mom. She wrote to a friend, “…it seems so silly to e spending my time being a nurse and housemaid…” instead of doing “all the things that seem worth doing in the years that are left.” Rachel looked for projects that would expand her audience, taking on a television documentary (although she didn’t care for TV) and writing an article for the Woman’s Home Companion called, “Help Your Child to Wonder,” probably driven by raising her sister’s children. The child article seems particularly interesting and useful. This book highlighted a couple of parts, including, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later year…” She further advised parents, “Exploring nature with your child is largely a matter of becoming receptive to what lies around you. It is learning again to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and fingertips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impression.” She stressed it was not important to know the names of birds and tress but the relationship among the creatures of nature.
Two other things happened to Ms. Carson during this time. Not working for the federal government and having a famous voice allowed her to become more political. She was long a democrat but now she spoke out both politically and electorally. In early 1957, tragedy struck the family when her niece passed away at age thirty-one, leaving her son orphaned. At 51, Rachel adopted the five-year-old. A short time later, she learned the doctor had misdiagnosed her earlier illness with cancer coming back full force. It was under these pressures she wrote her most famous book, Silent Spring.
The author did a stellar job explaining how Ms. Carson took on this project, the debate and history of DDT, and how the book impacted our society and government; this was explained in a way that made it easy for someone who’s last three courses in college were the science requirements. The book also shared the opposition – calling Ms. Caron a communist – a powerful power play during the Cold War years – and reminding people that she had no original research. The opposition even threatened the publisher with a lawsuit to prevent the release of what became an award-winning book. Yet, it was released and set Congress into action to look at this major issue. Unfortunately, a year later Rachel passed away. Forever we have to wonder how much more this transforming woman would have accomplished if she had better health or even less imposed family obligations.
The back story of this entire book – never bought forward in a direct manner – is that Rachel Carson had to find ways to write with incredible distractions of life. She found the time and place to write, used a format that worked for her by hand writing the book then having her mom type up her writing during the day. She struggled to find ways to fund her writing with grants and re-packaging her writing into articles. We get a peak at her frustrations so many other writers would find comforting.
Born in the first decade of the last century, Ms. Carson grew up in a modest household, where her mom introduced her to the enjoyment of nature, reading, and writing. Her mom, a woman born in Cleveland in 1869. Rachel always knew she was going to be a writer, but it wasn’t until she had an inspiring biology teacher in her sophomore year of college.
The author points to the start of the Great Depression as a tough time for the young writer. She had her parents; her divorced sister and her two kids move into her small home. Soon her sister and dad were unable to help with the family’s income due to illnesses. Finances kept her from finishing her graduate work. Instead, she secured a job with the federal government in one of FDR’s depression programs. But as soon as she started to write, both her father, then her sister passed away. Rachel found herself taking care of her mom while raising her pre-teen children just as she secured a book contract with Simon & Schuster to write a book ultimately named Under the Sea-Wind: A Naturalists’ Picture of Ocean Life. She wrote the book after she worked all day and the three people in her house were sleeping and her cat kept her company. The onset of WWII, the subject matter, and perhaps the poor work of the major publisher to market the book brought in disappointing results for two years of part-time work; subsequently the income was also meager for so much work.
For years, the future star writer worked full-time for the government and wrote articles that sometimes earned her as much as her first book. She started working on her second book, Return to the Sea, again at night but with a different publisher. She earned a scholarship to take time away from work to research and write. She read a lot, corresponded with experts and explored, including traveling to Florida to capture nature in the place that later became the Everglades National Park. Quartiello highlighted that this book covered the complex food chain that is in the ocean, how waves can cause both destruction and create our stunning shorelines, connect the importance of waves to military operations of the recent world war, and how the oceans natural resources – including petroleum, salt, and gold – are critical to human’s lives. This author makes it sound like a book to learn and enjoy.
After writing the book, Carson had a cancer scare that took her away from returning to work so she sold the rights of sections of her book and received a Guggenheim Fellowship so she could write more. Life was looking up – she recovered, was able to write and, received positive reactions from her second book. The Sea won a spot on the New York Times best-seller list, hitting the top spot within a couple of months. Rachel told a friend, “I simply can’t understand the way the public has gotten so mad about the sea!” demonstrating her surprise by her own success. The book continued to do well, income exceeded Rachel’s expectations, and she was winning awards. Demonstrating her honestly and ethics, Rachel wrote to the Guggenheim Foundation that they should use her ongoing stipend to another worthy writer, sending back the check since her income was adequate for her to quit her federal position. Quaratiello included a few private letters showing Rachel’s true humility to becoming a star writer.
While she left her full-time federal job, Ms. Carson was still too distracted to put all her energies into writing because of her adopted family obligations. She started to work on a third sea book, The Edge of the Sea, a fascinating book that sounds more interesting than her most famous book, Silent Spring. It is a book about where the ocean and sea meet, the “marginal world of the shore.” She wrote this book from a cottage she bought in Maine that allowed her to see the sea from her living room. She finally hired a housekeeper who could help around the house and support her mother’s increasing demands brought on by her health.
This author makes Carson’s third book on the sea sound so interesting. While the book is based on Carson’s own observations of the Maine and Florida coastlines, she speaks about the geological history of sandy beaches compared to rocky coasts, the moving coastlines, and how tree trumps form swamps and islands. Carson writes beautifully, including: “Once this rocky coast beneath me was a plain of sand; then the se rose and found a new shoreline.” Her writing was like poetry, including: “On all these shores there are echoes of past and future: of the flow of time, obliterating yet containing all that has gone before; of the sea’s eternal rhythms.”
The book was an instant hit – with awards to follow. Carson continued to be distracted by taking care of the house and her aged mom. She wrote to a friend, “…it seems so silly to e spending my time being a nurse and housemaid…” instead of doing “all the things that seem worth doing in the years that are left.” Rachel looked for projects that would expand her audience, taking on a television documentary (although she didn’t care for TV) and writing an article for the Woman’s Home Companion called, “Help Your Child to Wonder,” probably driven by raising her sister’s children. The child article seems particularly interesting and useful. This book highlighted a couple of parts, including, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later year…” She further advised parents, “Exploring nature with your child is largely a matter of becoming receptive to what lies around you. It is learning again to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and fingertips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impression.” She stressed it was not important to know the names of birds and tress but the relationship among the creatures of nature.
Two other things happened to Ms. Carson during this time. Not working for the federal government and having a famous voice allowed her to become more political. She was long a democrat but now she spoke out both politically and electorally. In early 1957, tragedy struck the family when her niece passed away at age thirty-one, leaving her son orphaned. At 51, Rachel adopted the five-year-old. A short time later, she learned the doctor had misdiagnosed her earlier illness with cancer coming back full force. It was under these pressures she wrote her most famous book, Silent Spring.
The author did a stellar job explaining how Ms. Carson took on this project, the debate and history of DDT, and how the book impacted our society and government; this was explained in a way that made it easy for someone who’s last three courses in college were the science requirements. The book also shared the opposition – calling Ms. Caron a communist – a powerful power play during the Cold War years – and reminding people that she had no original research. The opposition even threatened the publisher with a lawsuit to prevent the release of what became an award-winning book. Yet, it was released and set Congress into action to look at this major issue. Unfortunately, a year later Rachel passed away. Forever we have to wonder how much more this transforming woman would have accomplished if she had better health or even less imposed family obligations.
The back story of this entire book – never bought forward in a direct manner – is that Rachel Carson had to find ways to write with incredible distractions of life. She found the time and place to write, used a format that worked for her by hand writing the book then having her mom type up her writing during the day. She struggled to find ways to fund her writing with grants and re-packaging her writing into articles. We get a peak at her frustrations so many other writers would find comforting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2015
Good, succinct short biography. Summarizes a lot of information out there. Not much analysis at all but would be good for some as an introduction.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews