The Everglades: River of Grass
Encyclopedia
The Everglades: River of Grass is a non-fiction book written by Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an American journalist, writer, feminist, and environmentalist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development...

 in 1947. Published the same year as the formal opening of Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest...

, the book was a call to attention about the degrading quality of life in the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...

 and continues to remain an influential book on nature conservation as well as a reference for information on South Florida. It was used as recently as 2007 by the New York Times.

Background

Douglas was a freelance writer who submitted stories to magazines throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Her friend Hervey Allen was an editor at Rinehart, responsible for the Rivers of America Series
Rivers of America Series
The Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years.- History :...

. Allen asked her to write a story about the Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...

, but Douglas did not find it very interesting, calling it only "an inch long". She began learning more about the Miami River though, and in her research, she instead suggested to her editor to write a story about the Everglades. Douglas spent five years researching the Everglades, consulting with Garald Parker of the US Geological Survey, who was studying the Everglades hydrology systems, and eventually wrote nearly 40 papers on the ecosystems in the Everglades.

Reception

The Quarterly Review of Biology reviewed the book and commented on Douglas' "convincing evidence" in her assertion that the Everglades are a river instead of a swamp, and declared that "it is hoped that this excellent account of the area and its history may provide the needed stimulus for the establishment of an intelligent conservation program for the entire Everglades."
The Journal of American Folklore praised the book highly, particularly in comparison to other books in the Rivers of America series, and likened Douglas' enthusiastic writing style to that of a previous writer on rural Florida, William Bartram
William Bartram
William Bartram was an American naturalist. The son of Ann and John Bartram, William Bartram and his twin sister Elizabeth were born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...

: "We have a well written, readable book containing a wealth of scholarly and scientific data which can be enjoyed by both the general and the academically inclined reader." The Mississippi Valley Review also expressed interest in Douglas' idea that the Everglades is not a mere swamp.

Editions

The book has gone through numerous editions, selling over 500,000 copies since its original publication. The last three editions, published by a Florida publisher, Pineapple Press, have updated afterwords: in 1998 by Randy Lee Loftis and Marjory Stoneman Douglas; the 50th anniversary edition in 1997 by Cyril Zaneski; and the 60th anniversary edition in 2007 by Michael Grunwald, author of The Swamp.
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