“Vibrant…an ideal starting point for further learning.” —School Library Journal “A lively portrayal of Douglas as a remarkable individual and a significant environmental activist.” —Booklist From acclaimed children’s book biographer Sandra Neil Wallace comes the inspiring and little-known story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the remarkable journalist who saved the Florida Everglades from development and ruin. Marjory Stoneman Douglas didn’t intend to write about the Everglades but when she returned to Florida from World War I, she hardly recognized the place that was her home. The Florida that Marjory knew was rapidly disappearing—the rare orchids, magnificent birds, and massive trees disappearing with it. Marjory couldn’t sit back and watch her home be destroyed—she had to do something. Thanks to Marjory, a part of the Everglades became a national park and the first park not created for sightseeing, but for the benefit of animals and plants. Without Marjory, the part of her home that she loved so much would have been destroyed instead of the protected wildlife reserve it has become today.

Profiles the suffragist, feminist, and environmentalist who fought for the preservation and protection of the Everglades and won the battle that turned it into a national wilderness area.

Traces the life of the woman who became known as the "Grandmother of the Glades" for her fight to preserve the Florida Everglades against misuse and development.

Biography of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, dubbed "the grandmother of the Everglades," a woman who devoted her life to teaching the importance of preserving the unique habitat of southern Florida.

Florida is lucky to have had three women — three Marjories — speaking out about saving Florida's natural environment. Marjory Stoneman Douglas is known as the “Mother of the Everglades.” She wrote The Everglades: River of Grass, the seminal and now classic book on this unique region of south Florida. She was a tireless campaigner for the environment and helped make the Everglades a national park. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is best known for her books set in Florida: The Yearling, Cross Creek, and South Moon Under, all set in the then-remote wilderness of central Florida. Her very popular books brought the world's attention to the importance of the culture and natural environment of this region. Marjorie Harris Carr fought to save the Oklawaha River by challenging the building of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. She argued that this would cut the ecology of the state in two, particularly ruinous for the wildlife. Now there is the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, which serves as a bridge for wildlife through developed areas and over I-75.

Set in the early 1900s, Among the Beautiful Beasts is the untold story of the early life of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, known in her later years as a tireless activist for the Florida Everglades. After a childhood spent in New England estranged from her father and bewildered by her mother, who fades into madness, Marjory marries a swindler thirty years her senior. The marriage nearly destroys her, but Marjory finds the courage to move to Miami, where she is reunited with her father and begins a new life as a journalist in that bustling, booming frontier town. Buoyed by a growing sense of independence and an affair with a rival journalist, Marjory embraces a life lived at the intersection of the untamed Everglades and the rapacious urban development that threatens it. When the demands of a man once again begin to swallow Marjory’s own desires and dreams, she sees herself in the vulnerable, inimitable Everglades and is forced to decide whether to commit to a life of subjugation or leap into the wild unknown. Told in chapters that alternate between an urgent midnight chase through the wetlands and extensive narrative flashbacks, Among the Beautiful Beasts is at once suspenseful and deeply reflective.

Everglades National Park’s mangrove ecosystem, extending over 230,000 acres of south Florida, is the most expansive in the western hemisphere and the largest continuous system of mangroves in the world. Most of this mangrove area is remote, accessible only by boat, complex and difficult to navigate. In The Everglades: Stories of Grit and Spirit from the Mangrove Wilderness we hear 21 stories from people who have ventured into this wilderness—for scientific work, artistic work, search-and-rescue missions, for personal renewal, or for the pure adventure of it. They tell stories of manatee rescue, shark encounters, storms and strandings, stories of environmental value and threat, wild beauty, personal enchantment and spirit. Together these stories reveal a world beyond the reach of most travelers. They also offer support and offer enticement to the intrepid few who may venture “out there” and return with stories of their own.

About Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas: "Written as entertainment for a mass market . . . crammed with colorful characters, vivid incidents and palpable atmosphere. . . . A reminder of a Florida gone by or fast disappearing."--Orlando Sentinel "Reflects the same concerns found in her better-known non-fiction work--a fascination with the beauty of Florida and a warning against its imminent destruction."--Tallahassee Democrat In the pantheon of Florida writers, Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) is cherished as the grande dame. Famous as the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, prolific as a writer, and passionate as an environmental crusader for almost a century, she became the nation's best link to a remarkable era in Florida history. The timeless themes of her stories in this new collection resonate with interest for readers today. Whether the subject is hurricanes, cockfighting, real estate deals, struggling immigrants, or corruption in the Everglades, Douglas wrote about it with distinction--and usually first. Originally published in the Saturday Evening Post during the 1920s and 1930s, the golden age of the short story, these nine works have never before been collected or available in one place. Kevin M. McCarthy, who edited the companion volume, Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, offers an introduction to each story, explaining its significance, setting, unusual references, place in Douglas's works, and significance to the history of South Florida. Kevin M. McCarthy, professor of English and Florida studies at the University of Florida, is the author or editor of nineteen other books, including Florida Lighthouses, Florida Stories, and More Florida Stories (published by the University Press of Florida). The stories: "At Home on the Marcel Waves" "Solid Mahogany" "Goodness Gracious, Agnes" "A River in Flood" "The Mayor of Flamingo" "Stepmother" "You Got to Go, But You Don't Have to Come Back" "High-Goal Man" "Wind Before Morning"

A prize-winning r"Washington Post" reporter tells the story of the Florida Everglades, from its beginnings as 4,500 off-putting square miles of natural liquid wasteland to the ecological mess it has become. Photos.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas is called "the Grandmother of the Everglades." Read about her life from her childhood up north to her long and inspiring life in south Florida. She arrived in Miami in 1915 from her native Massachusetts, happy to be in the tropical warmth. She began to understood the importance of the Everglades, an area most considered a "swamp." She called attention to it with her book The Everglades: River of Grass. During her 108 years, she was a newspaper and magazine journalist as well as book writer. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work on the Everglades. Ages 9-12 Next in series > > See all of the books in this series