Portal:Florida/Selected biography/1
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998) was an American journalist and environmentalist most associated with battles to stop the draining and development of the Florida Everglades. Douglas grew up in Massachusetts, married early but briefly, and moved to a very young Miami to work for The Miami Herald. She became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her 1947 book The Everglades: River of Grass redefined popular conception of the Everglades as a river worth saving instead of a worthless swamp, and its impact is compared to that of Silent Spring. Her books, stories, and journalism career brought her influence in Miami that she used in order to advance her causes.
Outspoken and politically conscious of many issues even as a young woman, Douglas was called upon to take a central role in the protection of the Everglades when she was 78 years old. For the remaining thirty years of her life she was "a relentless reporter and fearless crusader" for the natural preservation and restoration of the nature of South Florida.
