A Biographer’s Point of View

This website was created in 2000 to introduce the life and work of Rachel Carson, (1907 – 1964) one of the 20th century’s most important voices in literature and the environment. Few of the students whom I was teaching at the time had ever heard of Carson or of her revolutionary text, Silent Spring. I wanted to change that.

My biography of Carson, Witness for Nature, published first in 1997, provided the background for the content of this site. Its larger purpose was to educate readers about Carson’s life and legacy and to create a web presence which provided accurate information about a woman who had been greatly celebrated and greatly maligned. It seeks no membership, has no affiliations, and is intended only to share the best and most recent scholarship about Rachel Carson.

The uniqueness of this website, especially the “In Memoriam” section, and of my biography is surprisingly ageist. Today I find myself the only scholar, with the exception of Frank Graham (Since Silent Spring, 1970) who actually knew, interviewed, corresponded with and loved some of Carson’s closest friends, associates, and colleagues before they passed away. This unique perspective is reflected here, in the Lear/Carson Collection at Connecticut College, and in all my writing.

Dr Linda Lear