When Rachel Carson died of cancer in 1964, her four books, including the environmental classic Silent Spring, had made her one of the most famous people in America. This trove of previously uncollected writings is a priceless addition to our knowledge of Rachel Carson, her affinity with the natural world, and her life.
“Lyric, descriptive, informative, and moving.” —Bill Sharp, The New York Times Book Review
“[Lost Woods] gives a new generation an opportunity to rediscover the legendary biologist and ecologist. . . . These writings-essays, letters, magazine pieces, speeches-show us the evolution of a decent woman from scholar to warrior for all that’s right.”
—Carolyn See, The Washington Post
“This wonderful new book allows us to discover and learn anew from the scientist who taught ecology to the world.”
—San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle
“Lear unveils in Carson’s own words how she developed as a scientist and a writer, uniting science and literature to create works that still resonate today.”
—Elizabeth Abbott, Toronto Globe and Mail
“What comes across most profoundly here is Carson’s innate understanding-spiritual as much as scientific-of the connectedness of all living things, and her ability to describe complicated concepts in phrases that sing. . . . Read this book.”
—Bruce Mirken, Pacific Sun
“Linda Lear’s collection of [Rachel Carson’s] essays does a superb job of pulling from Carson’s works a collection that is lyric, descriptive, informative and moving. . . . This book should be required reading both for corporate managers in environmentally sensitive industries and for environmentalists and environmental scientists, who deserve the inspiration of Carson’s finely wrought, passionate prose.”
—Bill Sharp, The New York Times Book Review
“With her unique capacity to fuse scientific precision and lyrical power, Rachel Carson introduced a worldwide audience both to the principles of ecology and to their ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual implications. This collection of Carson’s writings over a span of forty-five years constitutes a stirring autobiography of the woman who became our century’s prophet of wonder.”
—John Elder, author of Reading the Mountains of Home
“Linda Lear’s selections and commentary demonstrate eloquently how Silent Spring developed as the culmination of Rachel Carson’s literary, scientific, and moral development. . . . For those who would know more about Rachel Carson, or about the environmental movement in the United States, Lost Woods is an enriching book.”
—Judy Kellogg Markowsky, Habitat
“Touching all aspects of [Carson’s] work are her puzzlings over the simple fact of life and her druidic appreciation of natural cycles and the beauty, excitement, and inscrutable elements of the natural world. . . . [Her fans] will find in this collection an engaging glimpse into the breadth of Carson’s curiosity and the fashioning of her public voice as a defender of the environment.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Carson’s writings have a surprising currency. . . . Her prescient warnings are as relevant today as they were when Carson wrote them.”
—Adelheid Fischer, World
“[Lost Woods] rounds out the portrait of one of the most significant people of this century.”
-Pittsburgh Magazine
“Lost Woods adds to the wealth of [Carson’s] laudable work for the planet.”
—The Earth Times
“If fleeting sketches can sometimes say more than the fully realized work, this collection of journal entries, a TV script, speeches, and articles by one of the pioneers of the modern environmental movement gracefully delivers. . . . The careful gathering of fragments by Lear (author of the 1997 biography Rachel Carson) . . . gives rare glimpses of Carson’s personal vulnerability and of her strange fusion of restraint and fervor, offering a frequent sense of being in Carson’s company.”
—Publishers Weekly“