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Reading The Environment

Noreen Cullen/Highlands Today

Reading and learning about our natural environment helps us to be more aware of how we effect that delicate system of life.

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Noreen Cullen

Published: October 7, 2007

An adventure into the Florida wilderness amongst all its amazing wildlife and landscapes can be experienced within the pages of some great literary works. Many books have been written and recognized for their portrayals of Florida's past as a wild frontier and its present state of having unique environments and habitats of many endangered endemic species. The volume of books specializing in the nature of Florida has increased tremendously and I've chosen a variety of them here to open that wild world to all readers seeking a journey into the past and a view of the present.

The Florida frontier of the 19th century is described in dandy detail with stories, pictures and photos in the book, "Cracker – The Cracker Culture in Florida History" by Dana Ste. Claire. This book, published in 1998, is "part anthology, part anthropology, part history, part folklore and it celebrates Florida's rich and diverse Cracker heritage. Dana Ste.Claire and the Museum of Arts and Sciences of Daytona Beach deserve much praise for bringing together these vivid images of Florida's frontier people who did not just live but flourished in a time before air conditioning, mosquito repellent and screens."

"There is an old Florida, call it 'Cracker Florida' if you will, where a distinctive way of life and attitudes persist, where houses and barns seem little changed but this Florida exists only in pockets and seems harder to find with every passing year." Clark I. Cross, "The Florida Cracker," 1975.

Marjory Stoneman Douglass' famous book, "The Everglades, River of Grass," published in 1947, is a historical compilation of Florida's past and a complete and wonderful description of that special environment that once spanned the land south of Lake Okeechobee to the southern tip of this state.
This book is a "treasured classic of nature writing where Marjory Stoneman Douglass brought the world's attention to the need to preserve the Everglades as the unique and magnificent place that it is."

A 50th anniversary edition of this book offers additional chapters by various environmental writers that look at the scientific research and political interference with the Everglades.

"Though much work still must be done to ensure successful restoration, there is hope that these 50 years comprise a picture of an environment gone terribly wrong, a book that called attention to the near catastrophe, and a resultant committed effort to fix it."

Writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote of Douglass' work, "this beautiful and bitter, sweet and savage book may be recommended not only to all residents and tourists of Florida, but to all readers concerned with America's life and the great relations of man to nature."

Originally published in 1942 by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the book "Cross Creek" has become a classic in modern literature. As the acclaimed author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Yearling," Rawlings wrote "Cross Creek" while living in that remote town and managing a seventy-two acre orange grove and dealing with life in that backcountry region of North Florida.

A collection of short stories by this author includes many memorable tales of humor, bravery and pathos all written in her special homespun and descriptive style. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' books are marks of time and gentle glimpses into a time in Florida when the natural world was a big part of everyone's daily life.

Another Florida author, Patrick Smith of Merritt Island, created an adventure even further back in time into the old Florida wilderness in his wonderful book, "A Land Remembered." Smith presents three generations of a Florida pioneer family, from dirt-poor Crackers to wealthy real estate tycoons, in an epic portrayal of the rich and rugged history of Florida's wild past and the events that shaped and changed the land. Patrick Smith's descriptions of that Florida frontier, the settlers, Indians and outlaws are captivating and memorable.

"Tales of Old Florida," a collection of 40 adventure stories, edited by Oppel and Meisel, takes the reader back to the wild Florida of 1886 to 1911. These stories were originally published in those time periods and they describe a time when Florida was a wilderness of swamp and beach, dense forest and abundant wildlife. Undiscovered except for a few pioneer sportsman and hearty farmers and ranchers, the environment was an untamed jungle, a paradise of wild things and the stories within this book are tales of those people who ventured amongst the wildlife for sport and survival.

The wild things of Florida's environment were scarcely documented outside of the scientific world until the mid-1980's when the "Florida's Fabulous" series of colorful and informative books were written by a photographer and a successive group of biologists and specialists in their particular field. Florida's own species and growths are featured in editions of Birds, Trees, Flowers, Seashells, Insects and Mammals. First published in 1986, the vivid and colorful photographs along with all the informative facts on the subjects make these books a beautiful reading experience. Additional "Florida's Fabulous" books include Butterflies, Spiders, Natural Places, Canoe and Kayak and Waterbirds.

Reading any of these books and stories about Florida's past and present natural environment helps us to be more aware of its beauty and how we effect that delicate system of life. Journey through the pages and into the wilds of Florida's environment and enjoy an adventure with any of these fine books. They're all marks of time in the changing landscape of this place called Florida.

Noreen Cullen is a Florida wilderness artist and photographer. She can be reached at ncullenfws@yahoo.com.

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