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GUEST: John Elder, teaches English and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, contributer to Courage for the Earth

This year’s Earth Day, April 22nd, is the 100th birthday of Rachel Carson, the person who is credited with launching the modern environmental movement as we know it in the United States. Carson’s book, Silent Spring, first published in 1962, was the impetus for many mainstream Americans, thinking seriously for the first time about the negative impact of human behavior on the planet. Rachel Carson was a writer, scientist and ecologist from Pennsylvania who studied marine biology and worked for the US Department of Fisheries. Her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, was first published in 1941 and was just republished earlier this month. Among Carson’s main campaigns, was the prolific use of synthetic chemical pesticides. She warned the public about the long term effects of misusing pesticides. And in her seminal 1962 book, Silent Spring, she challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and the government, and called for a change in the way humankind viewed the natural world. Carson died in 1964 after a long battle against breast cancer. Now, to celebrate her 100th birthday, Houghton Mifflin is releasing an anthology called “Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson,” edited by Peter Matthiessen, with contributors that include Linda Lear, Al Gore and John Elder.

Rachel Carson addressed the National Women’s Press Club on December 4th 1962. Special thanks to the Pacifica Radio Archives.