Rachel Carson is considered by many to be the mother of modern-day ecology. This year, to mark the 100th anniversary of Rachel Carsons birth and join in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Centennial celebration, the Friends of the National Conservation Training Center will celebrate the achievements of the Services most notable employee by launching the Rachel Carson Online Book Club.
Titles in the schedule range from Carsons first book, Under the Sea-Wind, in which she reveals her unique ability to present intricate scientific material in clear poetic language that captivates readers; to Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson, an anthology edited by Peter Matthiessen that will be released on April 22, 2007.
Silent Spring, Carsons most well known book which alerted the public to the dangers of pesticides and sparked a firestorm of controversy in its wake, will be showcased as well as some of her lesser known texts on the sea, and the truly inspirational The Sense of Wonder.
The Rachel Carson Online Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the National Conservation Training Center. Participation in the online book club is open to everyone. For more information, please contact Anne Roy, National Conservation Training Center at: Anne_Roy@fws.gov, or Nancy Pollot, Oregon Fish & Wildlife Office at: Nancy_Pollot@fws.gov. View the book club Web site at: "color:#002F80;http://rcbookclub.blogspot.com
The complete list of moderators includes: Patricia DeMarco, Rachel Carson Homestead Executive Director; Thomas Dunlap, author and Professor of History; John Elder, author and professor of Environmental Studies at Middlebury College; Maril Hazlett, Independent Scholar; H. Patricia Hynes, author and Professor of Environmental Health; Jim Lynch, Northwest author; Mark Lytle, author; Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service historian; Tom Schaefer, educator and historian; Deanne Urmy, Houghton Mifflin Executive Editor; and Cindy Van Dover, marine biologist and Director of Duke Marine Laboratory.
