Visiting Rachel: 50 Years After Silent Spring

"'Primavers Silencia.' So reads the cover of the Italian edition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It sits on the desk beside me--the small built-in desk looking out on a thicket of cedars and pine--a desk with one simple drawer holding some pencils and not much else, in the cozy pine-paneled study where Carson wrote much of her landmark book during the summers of 1960 and 1961. Other foreign editions are lined up on the bookshelf too, but the Italian title grabs my attention. "Primavera"--a singsong word evoking pasta with spring vegetables, or something related to "first."Prima, prime, primary, first. First silence." More in this powerful piece commemorating the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson's prophetic publication.

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