On a Farther Shore

by William Souder

  One salty citizen: Henry J. Davidson to the editor of the New Yorker, n.d., ca. 1962, Beinecke. Attempting to gauge the overall reaction contained within the flood of mail prompted by the articles, the staff at the New Yorker counted up the letters on both sides and determined that the mail was running a little better than fourteen to one in favor of Carson (editorial department tracking memo, 1962, records of the New Yorker, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library).

  Another angry letter writer: Austin W. Merrill, Jr., to the editor of the New Yorker, July 17, 1962, Beinecke.

  “Who would want to live”: Carson, Silent Spring, p. 12.

  “Yet such a world is pressed”: Ibid.

  “It is not my contention that”: Ibid.

  In 1958, Congress passed: Shah, Fever, p. 207.

  The early years of the: Ibid., pp. 207–8.

  One irate reader wrote: P. Rothberg to the editor of the New Yorker, June 18, 1962, records of the New Yorker, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.

  This, Carson wrote: Carson, Silent Spring, p. 266.

  “Together let us explore the stars”: John F. Kennedy Presidential Statement on the Malaria Eradication Program and related postage stamps, n.d. Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library.

  In 1963, faced with questions: Shah, Fever, p. 212.

  Six years later: Ibid., p. 216.

  She told Dorothy Freeman she was: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, June 11, 1962, Muskie.

  Carson began by telling the students: Carson, “Of Man and the Stream of Time,” Scripps College, Claremont, California, June 12, 1962. Scripps had Carson’s speech bound as a pamphlet, noting that it had fulfilled “a hope that had been cherished for a decade.”

  The once beneficent rains: Ibid.

  The radiation to which we: Ibid.

  Relaxing the next day, she got word: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, June 13, 1962, Muskie.

  Glad but underwhelmed: Ibid.

  Carson and Roger left: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, June 27, 1962, Muskie.

  Among the first to weigh in: New York Times, July 2, 1962.

  But the president was alerted: Irving Goldman to John F. Kennedy, July 9 1962, JFK Library.

  Within days, Kennedy’s special assistant: Draft response to Judge Irving Goldman from Orville Freeman’s office, July 20, 1962, JFK Library.

  Shirley Briggs warned Carson: Shirley Briggs to Carson, July 26, 1962, Beinecke.

  Freeman told his senior staff: Memo from Orville Freeman to senior staff, July 16, 1962, JFK Library.

  The lid is about to blow off: Newsday, August 20, 1962.

  The truth about pesticides: Ibid.

  Caro took note of: Ibid. And, in a small sidebar, Caro reported an apparent connection between mosquito spraying operations and the near extinction of the bald eagle.

  In subsequent installments: Newsday, August 21, 22, 23, and 24, 1962.

  Ridiculously, he told Caro: Newsday, August 24, 1962.

  “strong concerted attention”: Ibid.

  The FBI had launched an investigation: See chap. 1, note “Meanwhile, the FBI,” on p. 405.

  Knight told Carson he was interested in: Paul Knight to Carson, May 29, 1962, Beinecke.

  In July 1962, after the New Yorker series: Ibid., July 5, 1962, Beinecke.

  In October, Newsday’s Robert Caro: Newsday, October 10, 1962.

  Carson had shrewdly seen: Carson to Paul Brooks, September 11, 1958, Beinecke.

  the DuPont Corporation requested: Lovell Thompson to Marie Rodell, July 26, 1962, Beinecke.

  In early August, Velsicol’s: Louis A. McLean to Houghton Mifflin, August 2, 1962, Beinecke. McLean was secretary and general counsel at Velsicol.

  Unfortunately, in addition to the: Ibid.

  Carson sent a note back: Carson to Paul Brooks, August 8, 1962, Beinecke.

  This didn’t satisfy Velsicol: Louis A. McLean to William E. Spaulding, August 14, 1962. Spaulding was the president of Houghton Mifflin. His initial response to Velsicol (William E. Spaulding to Louis A. McLean, August 10, 1962, Beinecke) had made it clear that the publishing house stood by its author and that Silent Spring was coming out. Spaulding indicated that Houghton Mifflin wasn’t convinced of the supposed inaccuracies in Silent Spring but said that if Velsicol wanted to supply proof of any they’d give such evidence due consideration. After reviewing Velsicol’s second letter, Paul Brooks wrote to McLean saying that after further consideration, Houghton Mifflin remained convinced that Silent Spring was both accurate and fair (Paul Brooks to Louis A. McLean, August 22, 1961, Beinecke).

  twenty people in Memphis, Tennessee, New York Times, January 17, 1965.

  Then, in April 1964: Ibid., April 23, 1964.

  an even more alarming discovery: Ibid., January 17, 1965.

  In September 1962, the Department of Health: Public Statement, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, September 1962, JFK Library.

  The fact that they [pesticides]: Ibid.

  The agency said it also monitored: Ibid.

  But just over a month later: Memo from Jerome Wiesner to John F. Kennedy, November 13, 1962, JFK Library. Wiesner attached the critical report.

  At a meeting of the: New York Times, September 13, 1962.

  These sprays, dusts, and aerosols: Carson, Silent Spring, pp. 7–8.

  “every human being is now subjected”: Ibid., p. 15.

  “If we are going to live so intimately”: Ibid., p. 17.

  It was the story of a Swedish farmer: Ibid., pp. 229–30.

  “Like Kuboyama, the farmer”: Ibid.

  As crude a weapon as: Ibid., p. 297.

  Carson’s closing thought: Ibid.

  On September 25, 1962: Printed invitation, Beinecke.

  Then a few days after: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 4, 1962, Muskie.

  “Like all good indignant crusaders”: Life, October 12, 1962.

  Writing in the New York Times: New York Times, September 11, 1962.

  “The basic fallacy—or perhaps the original sin”: Ibid.

  one on the cover of: New York Times Sunday Book Review, September 23, 1962.

  Sullivan started off: New York Times, September 27, 1962.

  “In her new book”: Ibid.

  which had a surprising circulation of: Paul Brooks, Houghton Mifflin internal document, October 17, 1962, Beinecke.

  Genus by genus, species by species: “The Desolate Year,” Monsanto Magazine, October 1962, Beinecke.

  The problem is magnified: Letter to the public from C. G. King, president of the Nutrition Foundation, Inc., January 1963, Beinecke.

  the Nutrition Foundation board: From a “counter” letter to the public from a Mrs. W. F. Hadley, February 19, 1963, Beinecke.

  Writing in the journal: I. L. Baldwin, “Chemicals and Pests,” Science 137, September 28, 1962.

  Modern agriculture, with its high-quality foods: Ibid.

  The editors at Chemical Week: Chemical Week, October 6, 1962.

  Paul Brooks heard the campaign: Brooks, House of Life, p. 294.

  argued in a long, critical piece: Economist, October 20, 1962.

  Financial World magazine took much the same: Financial World, October 10, 1962.

  No one was surprised when: Ann Arbor News, December 12, 1962, Beinecke. The paper reported on two of White-Stevens’s stops, in Minneapolis and Grand Rapids.

  A notable critique came from: Time, September 28, 1962.

  There is no doubt about: Ibid.

  Diamond agreed with the: Saturday Evening Post, September 28, 1963. Given his original interest in the subject of pesticides, it is hard to read Diamond’s attack on Silent Spring without seeing in it a measure of revenge. But, despite being dumped as a coauthor of a major bestseller that would one day be judged one of the most important books of the century, Diamond’s uneven career continued. In 1961, he was promoted to general editor at Newsweek. In 1964, he published a slim book called The Rise and Fall of the Spa
ce Age, in which he predicted the Apollo program would not succeed in landing a man on the moon during the 1960s.

  Silent Spring, it seems to me: Ibid.

  What, finally, is Silent Spring’s game: Ibid.

  A couple of months after the English: House of Lords, Official Report 247, no. 58 (March 20, 1963), Beinecke. Shackleton’s comment, made with tongue firmly in cheek but with full-throated sentiment against the dangers of pesticides, was widely reported on both sides of the Atlantic.

  That same month, Carson got: Elsie Baier to Carson, December 21, 1962, Beinecke.

  One thing that fascinates me: Carson to Elsie Baier, December 27, 1962, Beinecke.

  In late October 1962, Carson: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 25, 1962, Muskie; and Carson to William E. Scheele, September 17, 1962, Beinecke. Scheele was director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Carson wrote to him to accept his invitation to attend a reception in her honor the following months. It’s inconceivable that she would have done so had she not already been planning to see Barney Crile in Cleveland at the same time.

  She said she could write: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 25, 1962.

  It was a speech to the: Speech to the Women’s National Press Club, December 4, 1962, Muskie. Linda Lear also published the text in Lost Woods.

  Carson’s voice that day: Personal observation. I listened to a recording of the speech in the Muskie archives.

  But only days later she was crippled: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, December 19, 1962, Muskie.

  As the year came to a close: Ibid., Christmas 1962, Muskie.

  Then, on New Year’s Day: Ibid., January 1, 1963, Muskie.

  Carson said that about a week: Ibid.

  But four weeks later she did: Ibid., January 29, 1963, Muskie.

  In early February 1963, Carson told Dorothy: Ibid., February 4, 1963, Muskie.

  Dorothy wrote back: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, February 6, 1963, Muskie. This date marked the ninth anniversary of the “Hyacinth Letter.” Dorothy told Carson that she was the “center of my being” and that nothing mattered to her unless Carson was a part of the experience. Dorothy, worried that Carson had been exhausting herself in their correspondence, estimated that they had written to each other nearly 1,500 times. She wondered how many books that would make.

  Carson reminded her that: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, n.d. “Hyacinth Time,” Muskie.

  She told Dorothy that the past decade: Ibid.

  Two new tumors had appeared: Ibid., February 14, 1963, Muskie.

  Only days after this: Ibid., February 18–19, 1963, Muskie.

  “The main thing I want to say”: Ibid.

  Don’t allow yourself to be: Anne Ford to Carson, August 7, 1962, Beinecke.

  But months after interviewing: Ibid., November 9, 1962, Beinecke. The nerves at Houghton Mifflin were understandable but unnecessary; McMullen’s thoroughness would ultimately vindicate Carson. Meanwhile, Fred Friendly, who had originally approached Brooks about doing the program, would soon become president of the CBS news division.

  Sevareid believed that: Carson read this in a newspaper account dated April 6, 1958, possibly from the New York Times, Beinecke.

  “There must come a time”: Ibid.

  But she confided to Paul Brooks: Internal Houghton Mifflin document, Beinecke.

  Torn between wanting: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, March 2, 1963, Muskie.

  “All that is most wonderful”: Ibid.

  “I shall feel better soon”: Ibid.

  Stories about the program: Virginia-Pilot, December 10, 1962, and January 4 and 5, 1963.

  “It seems quite certain”: Conservation Foundation, “Implications of Rising Carbon Dioxide Content of the Atmosphere,” March 1963.

  “The effects of a rise”: Ibid.

  Among those watching was President Kennedy: Memo from Jerome Wiesner to John F. Kennedy, April 3, 1963, JFK Library.

  she told Dorothy she hoped not to seem like: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, April 1, 1963, Muskie.

  But while Carson looked to be: Personal observation. This account of the broadcast is based on my own viewings of it on a DVD provided by the Beinecke library.

  Houghton Mifflin bought a copy of it: Anne Ford to Jack Woolner, May 23, 1963, Beinecke. Woolner worked at the department.

  The president of its American division: Lawrence Emley to Carson, May 24, 1963, Beinecke.

  Carson got more support: U.S. Department of the Interior press release, April 25, 1963, Beinecke.

  This laboratory is dedicated to: Ibid.

  The Interior Department, through the: U.S. Department of the Interior press release, August 12, 1963. The report itself was 109 pages long.

  Eric Sevareid reported that: “The Verdict on the Silent Spring of Rachel Carson,” CBS Reports, May 15, 1963, Beinecke.

  The New York Times ran an editorial: New York Times, May 17, 1963.

  In the same issue of the paper: Ibid.

  Dorothy wrote to Carson to say: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, May 15, 1963, Muskie.

  The committee report made: “Use of Pesticides: A Report of the President’s Science Advisory Committee,” May 15, 1963, JFK Library.

  “If Rachel Carson is right”: New York Herald Tribune, May 24, 1963.

  Carson told Dorothy Freeman: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, April 23, 1963, Muskie.

  In early May 1963, she said she was: Ibid., May 2, 1963, Muskie. 383 Dorothy said she didn’t know: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, May 8, 1963, Muskie.

  But at the end of May: Carson, Always, Rachel, p. 464.

  Carson appeared on June 4, 1963: U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Reorganizations and International Organizations of the Committee on Government Operations, “Coordination of Activities Relating to Use of Pesticides,” 88th Cong., 1st sess., May 16, 22, 23, and June 4, 25, 1963.

  Carson entered a long, prepared statement: “Statement of Rachel Carson Before the Subcommittee on Reorganization and International Organizations of the Committee on Government Operations,” June 4, 1963, Muskie.

  Carson and Roger—accompanied by: Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 456.

  Carson told Dorothy one reason she was: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, June 13, 1963, Muskie.

  One day in early September: Ibid., September 10, 1963, Muskie.

  Back home in Silver Spring: Ibid.

  “For ourselves, the measure is”: Ibid.

  After a long day at the hospital: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, September 18, 1963, Muskie.

  Dorothy recalled that after: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, October 2, 1963, Muskie.

  In October 1963, Carson started a course: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 3, 1963, Muskie.

  Dorothy commiserated, saying she: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, October 11, 1963, Muskie.

  A local newspaper account: San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, October 19, 1963.

  Carson told Dorothy how exciting: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, October 17, 1963, Muskie.

  She loved San Francisco: Ibid., October 21, 1963, Muskie.

  When she got home: Ibid., October 23, 1963, Muskie.

  She assured Dorothy that: Ibid., October 31, 1963, Muskie.

  though in one letter: Ibid. October 23, 1963, Muskie.

  She said it was quite an experience: Ibid., November 14, 1963, Muskie.

  “shock, dismay, and revulsion”: Ibid., November 27, 1963, Muskie.

  Worried about shipping a portion: Ibid.

  Dorothy wrote to Carson afterward: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, December 9, 1963, Muskie.

  A week before Christmas 1963: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, December 18–19, 1963, Muskie.

  A few days later: Ibid., December 21, 1963, Muskie. Despite her optimism about another season at Southport Island, this heartbreaking letter showed that Carson knew the end was coming fast. She said she was writing in front of the fireplace in her study after putting Roger to bed. Now she wished Dorothy was by her side so that they could remember all their most treasured times together. She told Dorothy that in spite of the
miles that separated them Dorothy remained her “main comfort and support.”

  After Dorothy made a four-day visit to: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 2, 1964, Muskie.

  One of her doctors had: Ibid., January 9, 1964, Muskie.

  Only a few days after Carson told: Carson, Always, Rachel, p. 515.

  She said she regretted: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 14, 1964, Muskie.

  Carson told Dorothy how impressed: Ibid., January 18, 1964, Muskie.

  Two months later, it was early spring: Ibid., March 10, 1964, Muskie.

  She told Dorothy about: Dorothy Freeman to Carson, April 12, 1964, Muskie.

  In early April she was strong enough: Ibid., March 31, 1964, Muskie.

  When she got home after: Ibid., April 14, 1964, Muskie.

  Later that same day: Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 480. Marie Rodell phoned Dorothy to say that Carson had died at 6:30 p.m. (Dorothy Freeman diary, April 14, 1964, Muskie.)

  Among the things Carson left behind: Carson to Dorothy Freeman, January 24, 1963, and April 11 and 30, 1963, Muskie.

  Her brother, Robert, insisted on: Lear, Rachel Carson, p. 482.

  On May 4, 1964, the tide at Newagen: “Notes on My Experience in Scattering the Ashes of Rachel,” Dorothy Freeman’s written account of that day, Muskie.

  EPILOGUE

  During the Pinchot Institute’s first year of operation: U.S. Department of the Interior press release, August 12, 1963.

  In the spring of 1964: Ibid., April 8, 1964.

  Udall exercised his considerable authority: Ibid., September 4, 1964.

  Two months later, the FWS: Ibid., November 15, 1964.

  Roger Christie went to live: Freeman, Always, Rachel, Epilogue.

  In 1975 she gave a talk: Audio recording, Muskie.

  Bibliography

  Abir-Am, Pnina, and Dorinda Outram, eds. Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science, 1789–1979. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987.

  Adam, Peter. Art of the Third Reich. New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1992.

  Allee, W. C. Cooperation Among Animals. New York: Henry Schuman, 1938.

  ———. The Social Life of Animals. Revised ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 1958.

  Allee, W. C., et al. Principles of Animal Ecology. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1949.