Under the Sea Wind (25 page)

Rachel Carson as a young girl. She said that one of her earliest childhood memories was of her love for books and reading. (Image: Carson Archives.)

Carson with her pet dog. She described herself as a “solitary girl,” who was always happiest with “wild birds and creatures as companions.” (Image: Carson Archives.)

By the time she graduated high school, Carson had become known for her meticulousness and intelligence. (Image: Carson Archives.)

A letter from the senior editor of
Reader's Digest
declining an article Carson had written titled “Ace of Nature's Aviators,” which advocated for rehabilitating the common starling bird. The letter, dated January 2, 1945, commended the piece and lamented the magazine's lack of space in which to print it. She sold a condensed version of the article to
Coronet
in 1945 while she was in need of money following an emergency appendectomy. (Image: Carson Archives.)

A letter from Carson to Raymond J. Brown, editor of
Outdoor Life
, written in 1946 after she was named a finalist in the magazine's writing competition. In the letter, Carson declares that “conservation is not an academic question for debate, but something that vitally and immediately concerns my whole way of life.” (Image: Carson Archives.)

Carson at her typewriter. She brought together a rare passion for writing with a detailed understanding of science. (Image: Brooks.)

Carson writing on a dock. She expressed her love for nature first as a writer and later as a student of marine biology. (Image: Edwin Gray.)

Carson later in her life. Her message of living in harmony with the natural world still resonates today. (Image: Carson Archives.)

A handwritten manuscript page from an early draft of
The Sense of Wonder
, which was published posthumously in 1965. (Image: Carson Archives.)

Images courtesy of Rachel Carson Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

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copyright © 1941 by Rachel L. Carson, renewed 1969 by Roger Christie

cover design by Jim Tierney

ISBN: 978-1-4532-1473-2

This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media
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New York, NY 10014
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