On a Farther Shore
Page 49
Broadcast application of insecticides: Ibid.
Meanwhile, in the fall of 1957: New York Times, December 3, 1957.
just days after Carson had heard from: Marjorie Spock to Carson, February 5, 1958, Beinecke.
Spock had been contacted by: Ibid.
She told White about the lawsuit: Carson to E. B. White, February 3, 1958, Beinecke.
White wrote back at once: E. B. White to Carson, February 7, 1958, Beinecke.
CHAPTER TEN: COLLATERAL DAMAGE
She wrote to Paul Brooks: Carson to Paul Brooks, February 21, 1958, Beinecke.
“lively as seventeen crickets”: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 24, 1957, Muskie.
When Dorothy had offered to have Roger: Ibid., March 23, 1957, Muskie.
But I have been mentally blocked: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, February 1, 1958, Muskie.
“shut her mind”: Ibid.
“space age universe”: Ibid.
On April Fools’ Day 1958: Ibid., April 2, 1958, Muskie.
In the spring of 1945: New Yorker, May 26, 1945.
In April she agreed: Carson to Paul Brooks, April 20, 1958, Beinecke.
She at this point saw it as: From Paul Brooks’s internal Houghton Mifflin memo, “Report to the Executive Committee,” April 1, 1958, and Marie Rodell to Lovell Thompson, March 21, 1958, Beinecke.
Diamond signed a letter agreeing: Marie Rodell to Edwin Diamond, April 18, 1958, Beinecke.
But two days later: Marie Rodell to Edwin Diamond, May 5, 1958, Beinecke.
a few days later was again told: Joan Daves to Edwin Diamond, May 9, 1958, Beinecke. Daves was Rodell’s partner in the agency.
In mid-May, Paul Brooks stepped in: Paul Brooks to Edwin Diamond, May 26, 1958, Beinecke.
A few weeks later: Joan Daves to Miss Minahan, June 11, 1958, Beinecke. Minahan was Paul Brooks’s secretary.
Diamond, meanwhile, ignored: Edwin Diamond to Paul Brooks, June 24, 1958, Beinecke.
Brooks, who was on vacation: Paul Brooks to Edwin Diamond, July 21, 1958, Beinecke.
In June, Carson met with: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, June 12, 1958, Muskie.
“actually happy and excited”: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 20, 1958, Muskie.
On November 22, 1958, she suffered: Carson to Marjorie Spock, December 4, 1958, Beinecke.
By the end of the day: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, December 4, 1958, Muskie.
“half-baked at best”: Carson to Paul Brooks, February 14, 1959, Beinecke.
She told Brooks she was intrigued by: Ibid.
“not be so rash as to predict”: Ibid.
Over the course of the sixteen-day trial: New York Times, March 5, April 26, and June 24, 1958.
A surprise witness who appeared: Ibid., February 14, 1958.
The key witness for the government: Ibid., February 22 and 25, 1958.
Before the judge could issue: Ibid., April 26, 1958.
In June, the court issued a broad ruling: Ibid., June 24, 1958.
Although the plaintiffs contend: Ibid.
Wallace and his graduate students: George J. Wallace and Richard F. Bernard, “Tests Show 40 Species of Birds Poisoned by DDT,” Audubon, July–August 1963.
Locating and dealing with infected trees: New York Times, November 10, 1957.
Anthroposophy was the underlying principle: Spock, Eurythmy.
a woman named Mary Richards: Spock wrote to Carson on stationery engraved “Marjorie Spock–Mary T. Richards, Whitney Lane and Norgate Road, Glen Head Post Office, L.I., NY.”
Spock wrote to Carson immediately afterward: Marjorie Spock to Carson, June 6, 1958, Beinecke. 289 stopped in to meet Carson: Ibid., August 16, 1958, Beinecke.
Carson insisted they address each other: Carson to Marjorie Spock, September 29, 1958, Beinecke.
“I can hardly wait until”: Marjorie Spock to Carson, May 11, 1959, Beinecke.
She mentioned an interview: Carson to Marjorie Spock, June 30, 1958, Beinecke.
Schneiderman said it was still unknown: Howard Schneiderman to Carson, October 13, 1958, Beinecke.
Carson told Spock she thought: Carson to Marjorie Spock, October 17, 1958, Beinecke.
Penicillin was first used: Henry Welch, “Problems of Antibiotics in Food as the Food and Drug Administration Sees Them,” American Journal of Public Health 47, no. 6 (June 1957).
It should be emphasized that: Ibid.
Time magazine reported that: Time, September 26, 1960.
Carson wrote a long letter to the editor: Carson to DeWitt Wallace, January 27, 1958, Beinecke. Wallace was the editor of Reader’s Digest.
Carson got an immediate answer: Walter B. Mahoney to Carson, January 30, 1958, Beinecke. Mahoney was a senior editor at Reader’s Digest, who answered because Wallace was out of the office when Carson’s letter arrived.
She wrote to the author: Carson to Robert Strother, June 19, 1959, Beinecke.
which he graciously agreed to do: Robert Strother to Carson, June 24, 1959, Beinecke.
In the spring of 1959: New York Times, August 24, 1959.
In 1958, a group called: Williams and Cantelon, American Atom, pp. 197–202.
A half century later: New York Times, December 13, 2010.
“virtually certain that genetic effects”: “Estimates and Evaluation of Fallout in the United States from Nuclear Weapons Testing Conducted Through 1962,” Report of the Federal Radiation Council, Report No. 4, May 1963 (JFK Library).
presented the United Nations with a petition: Mead and Hager, Linus Pauling, p. 213.
“Each nuclear bomb test”: Ibid.
Teale and his wife had visited Carson: Edwin Way Teale to Carson, September 12, 1954, Beinecke.
The Teales also shared: Ibid., March 18, 1956, Beinecke. The subject of cats came up in numerous letters between Teale and Carson.
Carson urged Teale to find a way: Carson to Edwin Way Teale, March 25, 1956, Beinecke.
Teale wrote to encourage her: Edwin Way Teale to Carson, May 26, 1958, Beinecke.
Paul Brooks shared this view: From Paul Brooks’s internal Houghton Mifflin memo, “Report to the Executive Committee,” April 1, 1958, Beinecke.
When Paul Brooks asked Carson about: Paul Brooks to Carson, February 13, 1959, Beinecke.
“I hate to advise you”: Carson to Paul Brooks, February 14, 1959, Beinecke.
Sometime in early 1959: Paul Brooks to Carson, May 25, 1959, Beinecke. Exactly when this title was proposed, or whose idea it was, can’t be determined.
Carson again felt only lukewarm: Carson to Paul Brooks, June 3, 1959, Beinecke. Carson seemed caught off-guard by Brooks’s reference to the new title. Although she said it “seems to wear pretty well” now that she had lived with it for a few weeks, Carson sounded less than enthusiastic, admitting only that her initial doubts “seem” to have disappeared.
In May, Brooks told Carson: Paul Brooks to Carson, May 25, 1959, Beinecke.
Carson wrote back to assure him: Carson to Paul Brooks, June 3, 1959, Beinecke.
Carson and Marie Rodell were alarmed: Marie Rodell to Paul Brooks, June 24, 1959, Beinecke.
Carson wrote to the publicity department: Carson to Anne Ford, July 6, 1959, Beinecke. Ford worked in the publicity department at Houghton Mifflin.
Filed away alongside: Carson’s undated handwritten notes for the book, Beinecke.
Both Carson and Roger were laid low: Carson to Anne Ford, August 7, 1959, Beinecke.
Carson did make time to: Ibid., August 27, 1959, Beinecke.
their car was hit by a truck: Carson to Paul Brooks, September 17, 1959, Beinecke.
In December 1959, Carson wrote: Ibid., December 3, 1959, Beinecke.
Carson also apologized: Ibid.
Brooks wrote back: Paul Brooks to Carson, December 21, 1959, Beinecke.
Lead, the other metallic residue: Kallet and Schlink, 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs, p. 56.
“milk you give your children”: Longgood, Poisons in Your Food, p. 2.
One factor that makes DDT so effective: Ibid, p. 79.
Osmundsen accused Longgood of: New York Times, May 1, 1960.
Carson was aware of the controversy: Carson to Marjorie Spock, March 14, 1960, Beinecke.
It is a great problem to know how: Ibid.
In early November 1959: New York Times, November 10, 1959.
Grocers across the country: Ibid., November 11, 1959.
Aminotriazole had initially been tried: Ibid., November 12, 1959.
In Massachusetts, a crowd of nearly: Ibid., November 16, 1959.
In Wisconsin: Ibid., November 15, 1959.
One senior chemical executive complained: Ibid., November 22, 1959.
“wildlife and conservation groups”: Ibid.
Carson’s progress slowed: Carson to Paul Brooks, March 16, 1960, Beinecke.
who had expressed sympathy: Paul Brooks to Carson, March 18, 1960, Beinecke.
She said she was going to have surgery: Carson to Paul Brooks, March 21, 1960, Beinecke.
He told her that, unlike a historian: Paul Brooks to Carson, March 18, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson wrote back to say: Carson to Paul Brooks, March 23, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson also told Brooks: Ibid.
In my flounderings I keep asking: Ibid.
Carson said she also wanted to consider: Ibid.
A couple of weeks later: Carson to Marjorie Spock, April 12, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson, worried about Roger: Ibid.
Spock, desperate to help: Marjorie Spock to Carson, July 20, 1960; and September 29, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson tactfully avoided: Carson to Marjorie Spock, July 11, 1960; and January 4, 1961, Beinecke.
Paul Brooks, who apparently did not know: Paul Brooks to Carson, March 29, 1960, Beinecke.
Weak and in pain: Carson to Marjorie Spock, July 1, 1960, and Carson to Paul Brooks, June 1, 1960, Beinecke. Carson told Brooks her recovery was progressing but that her doctors had told her it would be midsummer before she regained full strength.
She and Brooks arranged for him: Paul Brooks to Carson, July 27, 1960, Beinecke.
In September she offered: Carson to Paul Brooks, September 5, 1960, Beinecke.
Brooks wrote back and told Carson: Paul Brooks to Carson, September 13, 1960, Beinecke.
When Marie Rodell heard about it: Marie Rodell to Carson, December 2, 1960, Beinecke.
in his dissenting opinion: “Dissenting Opinion, March 28, 1960, of Mr. Justice Douglas, Upon the Denial of Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit,” Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 662; Robert Cushman Murphy et al. v. Butler et al., Beinecke.
During the past 15 years: Ibid.
Based on her latest: Paul Brooks to Carson, November 10, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson said she would come up: Carson to Paul Brooks, November 27, 1960, Beinecke.
But at the last minute she canceled: Paul Brooks to Carson, December 6, 1960, Beinecke.
Carson had found a swelling: Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 378.
She told Dorothy Freeman there was: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, November 25, 1960, Muskie.
“even though I asked directly”: Carson to Paul Brooks, December 27, 1960, quoted in Brooks, House of Life, p. 265.
Carson consulted with Dr. George “Barney” Crile, Jr.: Ibid., and Lear, Rachel Carson, pp. 378–79.
She wrote a letter to Dorothy: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, December 14, 1960, Muskie.
Carson relayed this news: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, December 16, 1960, Muskie.
She told Carson it would be so easy: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, December 16, 1960, Muskie.
In January 1961, the radiation treatments: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 4, 1960, Muskie.
The mass in her chest seemed to be: Ibid., January 3, 1960, Muskie.
On a cold late afternoon: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, January 31, 1961, Muskie.
In mid-January 1961: Carson to Paul Brooks, February 10, 1961, and March 25, 1961, Beinecke.
She kept up a brave mood: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, February 12, 1961, Muskie.
She told Paul Brooks she hated: Carson to Paul Brooks, March 25, 1961, Beinecke.
In May 1961, Marie Rodell visited Carson: Marie Rodell to Paul Brooks, May 23, 1961, Beinecke.
Carson now planned a total of: Ibid.
Brooks, elated at this: Paul Brooks to Carson, May 25, 1961, Beinecke.
Carson said she was eager: Carson to Paul Brooks, June 5, 1961, Beinecke.
In June 1961, after he’d seen Carson: Memo from Paul Brooks to Lovell Thompson, June 23, 1961, Beinecke.
in July the publisher sent: Katharine Bernard to Carson, July 6, 1961, Beinecke. Bernard worked at Houghton Mifflin.
She thought the Darlings’ drawings were: Carson to Katharine Bernard, July 14, 1961, Beinecke.
Both Brooks and Lovell Thompson thought: Memo from Paul Brooks to Lovell Thompson, September 15, 1961, Beinecke. Brooks told Thompson he thought Carson was wrong about the Darlings. Thompson scrawled his concurrence on the bottom of Brooks’s memo and sent it back.
Olaus Murie, a prominent naturalist: Olaus Murie to Carson, January 11, 1962, Beinecke.
But in the fall of 1961: Carson to Frank Egler, September 14, 1961, Beinecke.
Chastened, Egler wrote back: Frank Egler to Carson, September 20, 1961, Beinecke.
Still, Carson had enough confidence: Carson to Frank Egler, January 17, 1962, Beinecke.
Eight days later Carson was floored: Frank Egler to Carson, January 25, 1962, Beinecke.
She told Egler she would: Carson to Frank Egler, January 29, 1962, Beinecke.
Although he thought she offered: George Crile to Carson, January 30, 1962, Beinecke.
In the spring of 1961: Carson to Malcolm Hargraves, March 31, 1961, Beinecke.
Hargraves concurred with: Malcolm Hargraves to Carson, April 7, 1961, Beinecke.
In October, Carson wrote to Brooks: Carson to Paul Brooks, October 6, 1961, Beinecke.
Brooks patiently asked her: Paul Brooks to Carson, October 9, 1961, Beinecke.
In late October, Rodell told Brooks: Marie Rodell to Paul Brooks, October 24, 1961, Beinecke.
A few days later: Paul Brooks to Carson, October 27, 1961, Beinecke.
Brooks privately told Rodell: Paul Brooks to Marie Rodell, October 30, 1961, Beinecke.
One evening toward the end: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 23, 1962, Muskie.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: HIGH TIDES AND LOW
issue of pesticide use into “literature”: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 23, 1962, Muskie. Shawn backed up his assessment with a contract that was to pay Carson $25,000 for a “multi-part long fact piece” on insecticides. This was increased to $28,000 when the New Yorker ended up serializing more of the book than anticipated (internal memos from the records of the New Yorker, February 12 and August 13, 1962, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library).
Carson told Brooks this felt almost: Brooks, House of Life, p. 270.
On April 3, Brooks wrote her: Paul Brooks to Carson, April 3, 1962, Beinecke.
Marie Rodell asked Brooks: Marie Rodell to Paul Brooks, February 16, 1962, Beinecke.
In a rare moment of: Memo from Anne Ford to Paul Brooks, February 23, 1962, Beinecke. Brooks’s advice to send Diamond a copy of the book was handwritten across the bottom of the memo and returned to Ford.
In early April, Carson outlined: Carson to Paul Brooks, April 6, 1962, Beinecke.
chemical pesticides with “broad lethal powers”: Carson, Silent Spring, p. 162.
Houghton Mifflin was nervous about: Anne Ford to Marie Rodell, April 13, 1962, Beinecke.
Marie Rodell pooh-poohed these worries: Marie Rodell to Anne Ford, April 20, 1962, Beinecke.
As Marie Rodell reminded: Marie Rodell to Anne Ford, April 6, 1962, Beinecke.
In late April 1962, Paul Brooks asked: Memo from Diane Davin to Anne Ford, April 27, 1962, Beinecke. Davin worked at Houg
hton Mifflin.
She said she could still work: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, March 28, 1962, Muskie.
new mass in her armpit: Ibid., April 10, 1962, Muskie.
Among the attendees was: Ibid., May 20, 1962, Muskie.
A number of people had been: Ibid.
There was a strange stillness: Carson, Silent Spring, p. 2. For simplicity, I am citing the book, as everything published in the New Yorker is found in it, but not vice versa.
When Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote: John F. Kennedy to Dr. Albert Schweitzer, June 6, 1962, JFK Library.
The latest round of tests: New York Times, June 1, 1963.
But fallout from Soviet testing: Draft Presidential Statement, n.d., JFK Library.
“We cannot say with certainty”: Ibid.
President Kennedy’s science adviser: Memo from Jerome Wiesner to the President, June 26, 1962, JFK Library. Science adviser Wiesner would soon be tapped to head Kennedy’s special commission looking into the use of pesticides, making him the government’s point man on the twin environmental menaces of the time.
Meanwhile, the administration requested: Memo from Jerome Wiesner to the President, August 9, 1962, JFK Library.
In mid-July 1962, Secretary of Agriculture: Memo from Orville Freeman to Bob Lewis, July 18, 1962, JFK Library. Like Wiesner, Freeman would become embroiled in the controversies around nuclear fallout and pesticides that summer.
A month later, having been appointed to: Memo from Orville Freeman to the President, August 21, 1962, JFK Library. The subject of milk contamination was only one of several subjects addressed in this regular report to President Kennedy.
Freeman was briefed on this angle: Memo from Walter Mondale et al. to Orville Freeman, August 18, 1962, JFK Library.
By November 1962: Memo from Samuel Botsford to Pierre Salinger, November 23, 1962, JFK Library. Botsford was acting director of public information at the U.S. Public Health Service. Salinger was President Kennedy’s press secretary.
The most alarming of all man’s assaults: Carson, Silent Spring, p. 6.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture: C. A. Boyer to Carson, July 11, 1962, records of the New Yorker, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. Boyer was in the Plant Industry Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
In a sarcastic letter: Ibid.