Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890–1998)
Author of The Everglades: River of Grass
About the Author
Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) lived in Florida for eighty-three years. She was a journalist, fiction and nonfiction writer, editor, publisher, and crusader for women's rights, racial justice, and the environment. She became known for work in nature conservancy after the publication of show more Everglades: River of Grass in 1947, but it was many years later, in 1969, at age 79, when she founded the Friends of the Everglades. In 1993, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Michael Grunwald is a senior writer for POLITICO Magazine. Parts of this essay were adapted from his award-winning book, The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise. show less
Image credit: Marjorie Stoneman Douglas from Friends of the Everglades
Works by Marjory Stoneman Douglas
The Joys of Bird Watching In Florida 3 copies
Freedom River Florida 1 copy
Alligator crossing, a novel 1 copy
The Key to Paris 1 copy
Associated Works
The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem, Second Edition (1994) — Introduction — 38 copies
Great American Short Stories: O. Henry Memorial Prize Winning Stories, 1919-1934 (1935) — Contributor — 10 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1890-04-07
- Date of death
- 1998-05-14
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Place of death
- Coconut Grove, Florida, USA
- Places of residence
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Coconut Grove, Florida, USA - Occupations
- writer
feminist
environmentalist - Awards and honors
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (1993)
Members
Reviews
Lists
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 21
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 628
- Popularity
- #40,132
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 13
- ISBNs
- 28
- Favorited
- 1
I'm also pleased to report that, while she does of course use language that's very dated now and certain kinds of descriptions that modern authors would hopefully avoid, her treatment of the native peoples of Florida is way more respectful than I'd have expected for 1947. She very much treats all the people in her narratives as people, whatever their race or culture, and accepts those cultures on their own terms. (Mind, you I can't speak to how accurate her depictions of native cultures are, but she does seem to have at least wanted get it right.) And while she might not exactly be condemning the evils of colonialism on every page, she doesn't remotely whitewash them, either, and is always ready to call an injustice and injustice and a horror a horror. So, y'know, a considerably less racist and sanitized/mythologized account of American history than I got growing up decades later, anyway.
The edition that I have also includes an extensive afterword by journalist Michael Grunwald describing what's happened to the Everglades' environment and the various efforts to both develop and conserve it since the original book was written... which is a lot, good, bad, and ugly. He also talks about Douglas's own involvement in that history, which continued well into a ripe old age.
Anyway, even if this wasn't remotely what I was expecting, I can certainly see why it was influential, and whether or not I always loved her writing, I have come away with considerable respect for Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Less so for humanity and how we treat each other and the natural world, but let's be honest, that was kind of a given.
Rating: I'm giving this a 3.5/5 as a reading experience, but as a piece of history in itself, arguably it should rate higher.… (more)