Happy Birthday, Rachel Carson! Your Legend Lives on in Today’s "Women in Conservation"

Today marks the 114th anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson, the famous scientist and writer whose pivotal book Silent Spring shone a spotlight on the dangers of herbicides and pesticides such as DDT on both wildlife and human health. Today, her legacy lives on in other female conservation heroes.

Below are several recommendations for books about Carson's life, as well as a note about Audubon's 2011 Women in Conservation luncheon.
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In our September-October 2007 issue, Frank Graham Jr.--author of Since Silent Spring--reviewed two titles celebrating Carson.

The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement By Mark H. Lytle Oxford University Press, 288 pages, $23	Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson Edited by Peter Matthiessen Houghton Mifflin Company, 208 pages, $14.95

You can read Graham's review of both books here.
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For youngins out there, the title below is a beautifully illustrated story of Carson, beginning with a peek into her childhood. The review appears in our July-August 2007 issue.

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson
By Amy Ehrlich/Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Harcourt Inc., 32 pages, $16 (ages 5-8)
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Carson died at in 1964 from cancer, but her legacy lives on in remarkable women who are going above and beyond to do their part to conserve our natural ecosystems and raise awareness about environmenal issues. This past Monday, Audubon held its 2011 Women in Conservation luncheon, honoring artist/architect/activist Maya Lin and actor/activist Sigourney Weaver with its Rachel Carson Award. The lunch also celebrated "Women of the Gulf"--women who rose to the challenge posed by the BP oil disaster. Stay tuned to The Perch for interviews with some of the honorees, including Lin and Weaver. Read more about the event at Audubon.org. For interviews with last year's winners, click here.

Maya Lin

Signourney Weaver