Rachel Carson

Stephen Johnson (Independent Scholar - North America); Mary Stark (Central College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

Born 27 May 1907
Died 1964
Activity 1927-1964

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Educationalist
Essayist
Natural scientist

Other

Children's/Young Adult writer

Resources

Carson's Works

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Rachel Carson is perhaps best known now as the author of

Silent Spring

. She was persuasive enough in her writing of this book to catch the attention of President Kennedy. Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior, championed her, and Jimmy Carter awarded her posthumously the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in 1980. Before publishing

Silent Spring

, Carson was best known for her three books about the sea. She was, above all, a writer who celebrated a “sense of wonder” about the natural world.

Rachel was born into average circumstances on May 27th 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Money problems concerned her parents, Robert and Maria Carson. In addition, health problems plagued much of Rachel’s life and her mother often had to teach Rachel at home due to illness

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1753 words

Citation: Johnson, Stephen, Mary Stark. "Rachel Carson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 May 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5711, accessed 24 November 2024.]