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Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River
Born in Minnesota in 1890 and raised and educated in Massachusetts, came to Florida in 1915 to work for her father, who had just started a newspaper called the Herald in a small town called Miami. In this "frontier" town, she recovered from a misjudged marriage, learned to write journalism and fiction and drama, took on the fight for feminism and racial justice and conservation long before those causes became popular, and embarked on a long and uncommonly successful voyage into self-understanding. Way before women did this sort of thing, she recognized her own need for solitude and independence, and built her own little house away from town in an area called Coconut Grove. She still lives there, as she has for over 40 years, with her books and cats and causes, emerging frequently to speak, still a powerful force in ecopolitics. Marjory Stoneman Douglas begins this story of her life by admitting that "the hardest thing is to tell the truth about oneself" and ends it stating her belief that "life should be lived so vividly and so intensely that thoughts of another life, or a longer life, are not necessary." The voice that emerges in between is a voice from the past and a voice from the future, a voice of conviction and common sense with a sense of humor, a voice so many audiences have heard over the years—tough words in a genteel accent emerging from a tiny woman in a floppy hat—which has truly become the voice of the river.
268 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1988
40 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
30 books50 followersMarjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) was an American journalist, writer, feminist, and environmentalist, known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her most influential work was the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river, instead of a worthless swamp; its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 14, 2023
Living near her namesake high school, having a son who graduated from it, I was really interested in reading this book. I found her personal history very interesting but sad. Her recount of people and places in south Florida was very cool. She actually met and knew many of the folks who made this area a habitable state that grew into what we know today. Nice balance of biography and SoFla history.
February 18, 2008
Marjory Stoneman Douglas took crap from no one. This, her autobiography, describes how she developed this demeanor.
Douglas lived until 108 years old. She is best known for her passionate defense of the Everglades, but she had quite a career before that. She was a reporter for the Miami Herald when Miami had less than 5,000 residents, She joined the US Navy and then the American Red Cross to go to Europe during WWI. She was an editor for the Herald when she returned, then a freelance writer, producing over 100 stories and articles in her lifetime. She published The Everglades:River of Grass in 1947 after 5 years of immaculate research, and the book redefined common perception of the Everglades and helped set a tone for their importance. The book is still used today in deciding how the fragile ecosystems will be managed with human existence. But Douglas didn't really get her start until she was 78 years old, when some preservationists were desperate to stop the construction of a jetport in Big Cypress. She gave hundreds of speeches and single-handedly took on Big Sugar and the Army Corps of Engineers, constantly pushing them to what was right.
The book is a collection of transcriptions. Douglas was blind and partly deaf when the book was published in 1987. John Rothchild collected 500 hours of audio tape from her, typed it, and read it back to her. It reads quite as if Douglas were speaking to you directly. Douglas' razor sharp tongue doesn't neglect herself either. She's quite honest about her own failed marriage, her mental instability, her tenuous relationship with her mother, and how she felt about getting to know her father after being estranged from him.
Douglas' life and her sheer will has the ability to awe, and rightly so. She was an extraordinary woman.
Douglas lived until 108 years old. She is best known for her passionate defense of the Everglades, but she had quite a career before that. She was a reporter for the Miami Herald when Miami had less than 5,000 residents, She joined the US Navy and then the American Red Cross to go to Europe during WWI. She was an editor for the Herald when she returned, then a freelance writer, producing over 100 stories and articles in her lifetime. She published The Everglades:River of Grass in 1947 after 5 years of immaculate research, and the book redefined common perception of the Everglades and helped set a tone for their importance. The book is still used today in deciding how the fragile ecosystems will be managed with human existence. But Douglas didn't really get her start until she was 78 years old, when some preservationists were desperate to stop the construction of a jetport in Big Cypress. She gave hundreds of speeches and single-handedly took on Big Sugar and the Army Corps of Engineers, constantly pushing them to what was right.
The book is a collection of transcriptions. Douglas was blind and partly deaf when the book was published in 1987. John Rothchild collected 500 hours of audio tape from her, typed it, and read it back to her. It reads quite as if Douglas were speaking to you directly. Douglas' razor sharp tongue doesn't neglect herself either. She's quite honest about her own failed marriage, her mental instability, her tenuous relationship with her mother, and how she felt about getting to know her father after being estranged from him.
Douglas' life and her sheer will has the ability to awe, and rightly so. She was an extraordinary woman.
March 19, 2020
Who knew this amazing woman was such a skeptic? Witty and charming. I wanted to read passages out loud to anyone who'd listen!
July 20, 2012
A "Must Read" for anyone interested in the history of how and where current Florida residents' descendants settled in Florida. I knew Native Americans were not treated fairly in other parts of our Country, but was not aware of the injustices done to them in Florida! As history unfolded, the Indians in Florida often proved very capable of outwitting and outmaneuvering the White Man due to their knowledge of the Everglades! Many names of places in FL are either Indian names or Army General Names that fought against them! Also, the book explains how the effort to drain the Everglades has proved an ecological disaster!
May 10, 2009
I am most inspired by this unique woman's story. In many ways, I relate to her story. Troubled childhoods, love of writing, study of writing in college, independent thinkers; Marjory Stoneman Douglas is a monument to dedication. If I can attain a fifth of her presence in this world, I will be happy.
June 19, 2016
I have read this numerous times. I own it and love it, but will not lend it out. It is too valuable to me. Everyone should read it at least once. She was more than an employee or a female; she was an individual.
April 13, 2018
She was ahead of her time...Would loved to have met her. Loved her spirit.
June 3, 2023
A most remarkable woman, MSD, is truly the voice of the river, our Everglades.
May 11, 2018
Three and a half stars. This is interesting to understand better a woman for whom Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida is named. I have heard that the students learned well how to speak out in support of a cause, and it's clear that this woman also was more than able to do this.
As for the literary quality of this autobiography, it's about a 2.5 stars--it meanders, has holes in it, references people for two lines and then they disappear with the next point unrelated to the one before, chronology is in general the only propulsion forward, and there is little effort to confirm statements made about which the author is clearly uncertain. So why at least a 3.5? It's interesting to see how this woman lived a life that, for the most part, she chose. She chose not to be married again after an unpleasant experience in an early marriage, she speaks relatively freely about sex, she worked most of her life, she traveled quite a bit with a variety of companions, and while she seems to speak frankly, she doesn't seem to take herself too seriously or hold herself out as anyone extraordinary. Her work (her writing and activism) was clearly ground breaking at times and her determination to help in early environmental movements was useful and important, especially in relation to the Everglades.
In some ways because her writing is not polished, it reads more like you might imagine a conversation would flow, and it made me wish I had lived near her and was a friend who could come over for tea and a conversation. The narrative also shows a way of life where this was part of life--the human connections that don't seem as important or common these days seem much more an integral part of everyday life.
Only two things made me pause--she seems to take for granted (or it may be the style of her writing) that she was quite fortunate to have people in her life who left her inheritances that allowed her to do the things she wanted to do. The other is that she had a number of manic episodes that seem very intermittent and don't in other ways seem to affect her life. I wonder if that is an eliding of other kinds of problems that she experienced or if these were so disconnected to other aspects of her life that they came essentially out of nowhere, were "treated" and went away, and then otherwise she was unaffected by mental health issues. This book is very descriptive rather than reflective at a deeply emotional level, so my guess is that there is more to the author than she reveals. It would be interesting to read a biography of her to compare characterizations.
Overall, I'm glad I read this. It wasn't in general a "page-turner," but I did find myself wondering what she would do next and that was enough to keep me going; the last quarter of the book was more focused and helped compel me forward more than the random people and events that populate most of the book.
As for the literary quality of this autobiography, it's about a 2.5 stars--it meanders, has holes in it, references people for two lines and then they disappear with the next point unrelated to the one before, chronology is in general the only propulsion forward, and there is little effort to confirm statements made about which the author is clearly uncertain. So why at least a 3.5? It's interesting to see how this woman lived a life that, for the most part, she chose. She chose not to be married again after an unpleasant experience in an early marriage, she speaks relatively freely about sex, she worked most of her life, she traveled quite a bit with a variety of companions, and while she seems to speak frankly, she doesn't seem to take herself too seriously or hold herself out as anyone extraordinary. Her work (her writing and activism) was clearly ground breaking at times and her determination to help in early environmental movements was useful and important, especially in relation to the Everglades.
In some ways because her writing is not polished, it reads more like you might imagine a conversation would flow, and it made me wish I had lived near her and was a friend who could come over for tea and a conversation. The narrative also shows a way of life where this was part of life--the human connections that don't seem as important or common these days seem much more an integral part of everyday life.
Only two things made me pause--she seems to take for granted (or it may be the style of her writing) that she was quite fortunate to have people in her life who left her inheritances that allowed her to do the things she wanted to do. The other is that she had a number of manic episodes that seem very intermittent and don't in other ways seem to affect her life. I wonder if that is an eliding of other kinds of problems that she experienced or if these were so disconnected to other aspects of her life that they came essentially out of nowhere, were "treated" and went away, and then otherwise she was unaffected by mental health issues. This book is very descriptive rather than reflective at a deeply emotional level, so my guess is that there is more to the author than she reveals. It would be interesting to read a biography of her to compare characterizations.
Overall, I'm glad I read this. It wasn't in general a "page-turner," but I did find myself wondering what she would do next and that was enough to keep me going; the last quarter of the book was more focused and helped compel me forward more than the random people and events that populate most of the book.
July 1, 2023
What a fascinating read. Douglas has a great voice, snappy, confident, and backed by nearly a century of experience. I found her experience with falling in love, marriage, and divorce a comfort. Here she was a smart, confident, ambitious woman, who got totally lost in her love for a man (for a very brief time), and was able to get out and then chose to stay single the rest of her life and celibate. It made me feel less harsh and judgmental of my self I felt less alone and less like something was wrong with me. The overwhelming, powerful, and sometimes detrimental effects of being in love is something many women of a variety of types/personalities experience and it doesn't make them inferior or weak. It's just a thing to be recognized and dealt with according to your preferences and abilities. I'm also going to try and keep in mind a century-long perspective, that what seems a crisis at age 40 may very well be a nearly forgotten anecdote at 80 and have lost all its emotional impact. People make mistakes, hire the wrong person, lose their down payment when the contractor absconds and it doesn't make you an idiot or ruin your life forever. It's a part of normal everyday life. Let it go.
March 17, 2018
The author was a very interesting woman. Even at age 96 she was keen of mind and sharp witted, although her sight had failed. The book was created by her talking on tape for about 200 hours; John Rothchild then edited the words down to the book that was published.
At times the book gets a little bogged down in details, but overall I was very interested to read the life story of this woman. I am sad to say that I probably never would have heard of her had it not been for the tragic shooting at the Parkland, FL high school named after her.
She died 20 years ago at age 108, but her feminism and environmentalism were strong; she was an ardent supporter of the Everglades even at the time the book was published in her mid-90s. She was also extremely well read, with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Wellesley, and well connected to many in the publishing world; her father founded the Miami Herald and she worked on this paper early in her career. Most of all, she was independent and true to herself, while forming many friendships built on mutual interests and respect.
At times the book gets a little bogged down in details, but overall I was very interested to read the life story of this woman. I am sad to say that I probably never would have heard of her had it not been for the tragic shooting at the Parkland, FL high school named after her.
She died 20 years ago at age 108, but her feminism and environmentalism were strong; she was an ardent supporter of the Everglades even at the time the book was published in her mid-90s. She was also extremely well read, with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Wellesley, and well connected to many in the publishing world; her father founded the Miami Herald and she worked on this paper early in her career. Most of all, she was independent and true to herself, while forming many friendships built on mutual interests and respect.
June 22, 2023
Being a lover for my home, the sunshine state, I am so glad to have learned little nuggets of information about places I've visited or heard of. Though this was a memoir of sorts, it was also a good dose of florida history, of who's who, of our environment. I hate to admit there were many things I wasn't aware of or maybe was but hearing it in someone else's voice and perspective it was a little more enlightening. And as an author myself, it was really neat to hear how Marjory's trajectory brought her to all kinds of writing throughout her life.
July 29, 2024
-- An autobiography, so skip the first half. Just a lot of who begot whom in her ancestry. But halfway through she gets serious about why and how the Everglades needs to be saved. She wrote the historically influential book, "River of Grass," in the 60's but did not become an active and overpowering advocate to save the Everglades until the 80's and 90's. Most of her life she was a writer, including the Miami Herald as news reporter, columnist and editor. Her father was the first editor of the Herald.
July 1, 2018
This book is the transcription of over 200 hours of taped interviews with Douglas, and because of that, you really feel as if you are sitting in her living room, having a chat over tea, and learning about her fascinating life story. I knew little about Florida before reading this, but Douglas' work as an environmental activist is relatable, regardless of your knowledge of Florida history. This book helped to open a window into the state and also into the life of Majory Stoneman Douglas.
March 12, 2019
Voice of the River is a fascinating tale about Marjory Stoneman Douglas the “Grandmother of the Everglades.” This book is her autobiography created by author John Rothchild from numerous visits with her and over 200 hours of recordings. I chose this book to read in honor of Women's History Month.
Read the whole review at https://greengroundswell.com/voice-of...
Read the whole review at https://greengroundswell.com/voice-of...
November 5, 2019
This is part of my “Oh, Florida; or how I learned to stop worrying and love the swamp” list. MSD was, to borrow a phrase, non-stop. She stood up for what she believed in and went at it full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes, all the way to the age of 108; I can respect that. Voice of the River is an excellent insight into both MSD’s life and the development of Florida throughout the 20th century.
June 30, 2023
Marjory Stoneman Douglas is an incredible woman who lived an incredible life. This novel delivers to you her entire life story, told by Marjory herself. I really enjoyed not only learning about her early years and various endeavours before she became the Everglades champion that we know her as today, but I also loved learning more about her philosophies and general thoughts on womanhood, marriage, and just living.
April 21, 2024
“I believe that life should be lived so vividly and so intensely that thoughts of another life, or longer life are not necessary.” p. 258
Thus ends Stoneman Douglas’ autobiography. This was an informative read. It did not have a highly edited feel. In many ways it felt as if it was a transcription of her just talking a loud about her life.
She was a very busy woman not taking much of a break until her late nineties
New: Everglades national park gift shop.
Thus ends Stoneman Douglas’ autobiography. This was an informative read. It did not have a highly edited feel. In many ways it felt as if it was a transcription of her just talking a loud about her life.
She was a very busy woman not taking much of a break until her late nineties
New: Everglades national park gift shop.
May 7, 2019
Autobiography but Marjory Stoneman Douglas who wrote River of Grass about the Everglades which basically put the Everglades on the map.
Marjory enjoyed life and “jumped on many band wagons” to promote ideas she thought were important. Interesting woman who has helped make the Everglades what it is today.
Marjory enjoyed life and “jumped on many band wagons” to promote ideas she thought were important. Interesting woman who has helped make the Everglades what it is today.
August 25, 2019
Ms. Douglas is such a character! Her recall of events and people is amazing as is her unique way of looking at the world. Such a spitfire, march-to-the-beat of her own drum lady. Her autobiography was an entertaining read. She did so much good for the people and environment of Florida by grit and sticking to her convictions. Truly an inspiration in so many ways.
April 22, 2021
an amazing story of an amazing woman. her name has come to known to mean the site of a mass shooting but the reason that school was named after in the first place is because she was a very important conservationist who dedicated her life to the Florida Everglades. I highly recommend.
January 11, 2025
An excellent autobiography by an unusual woman who lived a very interesting life. Went to WWI to do her part in deciding the great war. Led the fight to make the Everglades a national park. Lived a very active life into her nineties.
September 18, 2018
I actually have already read this book !
April 30, 2020
MSD is so fun and funny and sassy! I had the greatest time walking through Florida history with her.
December 10, 2021
A wonderful look at the life of a true South Florida legend. Her insights on the Everglades and Florida not only came true, but continue to inspire.
October 2, 2023
I loved this! It was like listening to her talk! I live in Florida and I am wondering now what things have changed environmentally since this writing. I know there have been changes.
March 12, 2025
what a wonderful woman, her attitude definitely is what let her live so long lol. the fact that this was a voice recording translated to autobiography makes it such an easy, welcoming read.
December 22, 2021
A must read on the life of Douglas. Her story as told to Rothchild.
April 9, 2024
I bought this by mistake instead of River of Grass. I think reading that book first would’ve made this book more enjoyable. It was nice learning about Marjorie Stoneman Douglas’s life and how she almost accidentally fell into conservation later on in her life.
February 23, 2021
I was lucky enough to meet Marjory Stoneman Douglas twice. I live in South Florida and the first meeting was at a speakers event. I was among probably 70 women she came to talk to about South Florida protections and how to cherish the environment. I became a Master Gardener after that speech because she lit a passion in me for cherishing the extremely vital native plants.
The next time I met this amazing gift to humanity was when I was part of an advisory board in Parkland, Fl for the future parents of students of the future high school. We met with all kinds of advisors about that property which clearly sat in the approach to the Everglades. I knew it was a bad idea to be building in the Everglades and should recycle a nearby strip mall instead. Mrs Douglas would concur. Now we have a high school there, named for her, and the horrible massacre happened on Valentines Day 2018. We should have protected the vital land and rethought building a school there. I wish we could have protected the students and staff too. Mrs Douglas would have wanted it all protected. Bureaucracy didn’t listen.
The book is total treasure. Listen to it if you can because she speaks on the tapes. Her father was the founder/editor of the great Miami Herald and she clearly inherited his talents for investigation and writing. All her talents from living without air conditioning to living simply and without a car, to being enthralled by books are clearly skills we all need once again in the coming era. Living simply and loving the land. She is a phenomenal teacher.
The next time I met this amazing gift to humanity was when I was part of an advisory board in Parkland, Fl for the future parents of students of the future high school. We met with all kinds of advisors about that property which clearly sat in the approach to the Everglades. I knew it was a bad idea to be building in the Everglades and should recycle a nearby strip mall instead. Mrs Douglas would concur. Now we have a high school there, named for her, and the horrible massacre happened on Valentines Day 2018. We should have protected the vital land and rethought building a school there. I wish we could have protected the students and staff too. Mrs Douglas would have wanted it all protected. Bureaucracy didn’t listen.
The book is total treasure. Listen to it if you can because she speaks on the tapes. Her father was the founder/editor of the great Miami Herald and she clearly inherited his talents for investigation and writing. All her talents from living without air conditioning to living simply and without a car, to being enthralled by books are clearly skills we all need once again in the coming era. Living simply and loving the land. She is a phenomenal teacher.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews