Book Review: Wilder Heart eyes Florida's natural wonders
"The Wilder Heart of Florida: More Writers Inspired by Florida Nature"
Edited by Jack E. Davis and Leslie K. Poole
University of Florida Press, 196 pages, $26.95
From Marjory Stoneman Douglas to Harriet Beecher Stowe, from award-winning novelist Lauren Groff to Pulitzer Prize-winning professor Jack E. Davis, this collection of stories from writers, teachers and conservationists points to the need to keep the pressure on to save the ever shrinking wild areas and denizens of our fair state.
Written 20 years after another group produced “The Wild Heart of Florida,” it points out how the state continues to face the ravages inflicted on it by its citizens and visitors. These tales, some based on memory, others on experiences, all have an underlying message: a warning of what can happen if we relax.
Writing about his beloved Indian River Lagoon, environmental lawyer Clay Henderson points out quickly things can change.
After the National Estuary Program in 1990 and the Indian River Lagoon Act which improved wastewater treatment and water reuse things had stared to slowly improve.
“Unfortunately the period of resilience was all too brief. In January 2016, we were all surprised to see a return of algae blooms far earlier in the season that ever before. … By February, algae blooms affected the entire lagoon. … By mid-March, a massive fish-kill erupted. … by some accounts more than million fish had died.”
A state of emergency was declared and restoration plans totaling more than $1 billion were forced to be put in place.
“If enough of us care, we can bring back the Indian River Lagoon to a healthy condition. It is resilient, and we all need to be as well.”
One of the most profound and thought-provoking essays is entitled “Florida is a Pretty Girl” by Orlando writer Frances Susanna Nevill.
Her mother was a title-winning small town beauty in her youth. But when her husband left her with two young daughters, her beauty became a detriment, forcing her to trade on “the currency of pretty” to get by.
“Florida is a pretty girl, too. Probably the prettiest in the room …
"Unlike my mother, she can’t make decision for herself. She can’t tell them to “stop” or say ‘no means no.’ … she can’t tell them that what they are doing in the name of ‘enjoyment’ or ‘pleasure’ is coming at too high of a cost to her survival. She can’t voice her pain in a language they seem to understand. She can’t even say ‘that hurts.’
“I mean, how much more can a girl take?”
This wonderful little book should be read by everyone who call themselves Floridians.
C.F. Foster lives in Riverside.
