 |
 |
Between the Lines |
 |
|
Interview with author Amy Ehrlich and book illustrator Wendell Minor |
|
Rachel
The Story of Rachel Carson
Amy Ehrlich
Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Rachel Carson was always curious about the world around her. As a girl she loved being outside, exploring, and learning about nature and the universe. As an adult Rachel wrote Silent Spring—a book about the impact of using toxins and poisons—a book that changed the world and inspired the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Amy Ehrlich's lucid and loving prose, complemented by Wendell Minor's luminous paintings, tells a memorable story of the power of the word, the power of the individual, and—most of all—the importance of following your heart.
|
|
Biography |
|
Amy Ehrlich is the author of more than thirty books for young readers and is also a winner of The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award for her novel Joyride, which was also chosen Booklist Choice Best Book of the Decade. This is Amy Ehrlich's first biography for children. She lives on a farm in Northern Vermont with her husband and a great many domestic and agricultural animals.
Wendell Minor is the illustrator of more than twenty picture books, most recently Shane by Jack Schaefer, and Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Warren Turner. His work has also been exhibited in many museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago. Wendell Minor lives in Connecticut with his wife, Florence, and their two cats, Willie and Sofie. His Web site address is www.minorart.com.
|
|
Interview with Amy Ehrlich—Author of Rachel |
|
Q: What compelled you to write a children's book about Rachel Carson and who do you think will be most positively influenced by reading this book and learning of Rachel's life and achievements?
A: : It was my editor at Harcourt who asked me if I would be interested—and she thought of me because she knew of the other books I'd written and she knew I lived in the country and loved to be outdoors. She also has a daughter about twelve years old and felt that girls needed more heroic role models. Many girls are still turned away from science and math—and here was a woman who was a scientist—and a great one. The irony is that she didn't have nearly the recognition that she should have. And many young girls are probably not familiar with her achievements.
I knew about Silent Spring because I was a young woman when it was published. But I had never actually read Rachel's work. So, I went to the library and picked up The Sea Around Us. T he writing was so beautiful that I immediately thought, "Yes, I want to do this." Then I started reading biographies.
Q: The result is a poignant and powerful story about Rachel Carson and the inspirations that led her to write Silent Spring, which is touted as a catalyst for the start of the environmental movement. Do you share Rachel Carson's wonder, awe, and respect for nature, and, if so, how did it inspire you when writing this book?
A: It's really important to me, and I expect to Wendell as well, that this book has been published. And the fact that I wrote it is incidental—because it's really about Rachel. I felt very inspired by her—the way her mind worked and the way that she wrote inspired me to do the book this way. She always made these analogies between one thing and another—she saw the world in small increments and in large increments—and I wondered how to get this across in a children's book. I worked from her writings and the micro and macro way in which she presents science as she did in The Sea Around Us. In that book, she writes about the currents and the tides, and the plankton in the sea and currents and tides, and how the fish eat the plankton, and how the fish are in schools, and how they find their way back and forth across the whole Atlantic Ocean—and all of those connections. And she uses the same type of treatment in Silent Spring— the birds eat the insects . . . or the fish eat the insects and she writes of the chain of life and the interconnectivity of everything.
I wanted to get that sense of her as I wrote Rachel and it all came together when I was creating the "Under the Microscope" section. If kids feel a fascination with what Rachel was fascinated by—and if the book makes them want to look at "it" again and want to learn more then it has achieved its purpose. When you write books, you always hope in some small part of you, to make a difference somehow. And if bringing Rachel to the attention of a kid will make that kid want a microscope, and want to look through a microscope, then that's a great accomplishment.
Q: That Rachel Carson way of thinking shows in the artwork of the book as well. Wendell, in one of your pictures—the one in the "Phosphorescence" chapter of the book—you show the phosphorescent algae in the ocean, the fireflies in the children's hands, and the stars in the sky—the picture seems to share the brilliance of our world and that all the phosphorescence is also interconnected. Is this what were you thinking when you did it?
A: Right on the mark. And I was also thinking of the relationship between inner and outer space. There is the phosphorescence of the event in the ocean, and the phosphorescence of the firefly, and, in the outer universe, the twinkling or "phosphorescence" of the stars in the sky. It's a very subtle way of showing the relationship of all things in the universe as Rachel first discovered with the ocean. Both of you seem greatly affected by the research you did into Rachel Carson, and Amy, you have said that while writing this book you came to realize what an important person and heroic thinker Rachel Carson had truly been. Has this book influenced you as much as you hope it will influence young readers?
Q: Both of you seem greatly affected by the research you did into Rachel Carson, and Amy, you have said that while writing this book you came to realize what an important person and heroic thinker Rachel Carson had truly been. Has this book influenced you as much as you hope it will influence young readers?
A: I think that Rachel Carson's life was very tough—and that she was heroic even in the end. Few people know that she was writing the book Silent Spring while she was dying of breast cancer. I have a sister who died of breast cancer—she was 39. We grew up on Long Island and in the late 40s, early 50s, when we were kids, DDT was often sprayed in our neighborhood. Jeeps would come around,white smoke would pour out of them, and we would follow the jeeps—we thought it was really fun. And at that point no one had understood that it was at all damaging. Later my sister wondered if the DDT spraying was part of the reason that she had breast cancer.
As I wrote the book I came to understand that Rachel Carson is so important, and yet is not as widely known as she should be—outside of the environmental community. I think it is because she was a woman and a woman scientist at a time when that was rare. She had to go in the backdoor—she couldn't get a job as a scientist so she worked as an editor, and then, the way she was able to deal with science and her discoveries was as a writer. She kept on the Silent Spring subjects despite the opposition from the chemical companies. One of the last things Rachel did was give testimony about pesticides and the environment in front of a congressional subcommittee. She had to overcome tremendous physical limitations to do that because of her cancer, and, because she was a woman, she had to overcome tremendous adversity to be taken seriously in the scientific and political world.
You don't encounter people like that all the time in your life. I've done research for a couple of biographies, and although you might admire the person's work, sometimes, after you learn more, you don't really admire the person. Rachel Carson was a modest person and just quietly went about doing what she needed to do. She didn't do any grandstanding but she was absolutely determined to do her work. That's part of what makes her so heroic. She also lifted herself above the conditions of her life—both personal and professional—and accomplished a great deal.
Q: Based on your research into Rachel Carson, how do you think she would view the current state of environmental protection in our country?
A: She would be appalled. She would be horrified. There's no spraying of DDT, but there are pesticides and herbicides in the soil used in agriculture. There's genetically modified foods and bovine-growth hormone. We live on a farm and my husband raises calves. We are up against this all the time for milk production. If you buy commercial feed for animals—the hormones are already in the feed. The only way to get around it is to completely run an organic organization. And the same chemical companies that originally made the DDT are still making all these other products. At least in America there is some legislation, but globally, especially in third world countries, it's worse. I think Rachel would also be appalled at the fact that there is so little wild land—especially at the sea. The land is developed and there's so little sea coast where you can lose yourself—as she loved.
Q: Amy, Rachel Carson did not overnight become a famous environmentalist and writer—in fact, it took years for her to realize these accomplishments. How does this compare to your life? Did you always plan to be a writer—a writer of children's books? Or, like Rachel, did you follow your heart and find it led you to success as a writer?
A: I was a reader as a kid—I loved to read a lot. And my father was a writer. First he worked for radio and when television was invented he wrote quite a bit for of early television. And though it was exciting because we were the first kids in our Long Island neighborhood to have a television in 1949 or so, it was also very ordinary because that was his job. But it was the family trade and I always wanted to be a writer. However, I had to make a living and in this way I was like Rachel. She worked for the Department of Fisheries editing documents, and I needed to find a job after college and so I decided to work for a publishing company. I got a job as an editorial assistant in a children's book department. When I got out of college—in the mid-sixties—women were not as career-oriented as they are now. Most of us figured we'd get married and that would be that. A woman just needed a "job" because at the time they weren't in "careers." I blundered into publishing and absolutely loved it. And I was very good at it and at times I wrote flap copy. At some point one of the editors said, "your flap copy is so good, why don't you try to write a book?" And that's what happened. My first book was published in 1972 when I was thirty and it was called Zeek Silver Moon. I just kept going after that. I always wanted to write a novel and I finally wrote two novels for kids and I've gone back and forth as both an editor and a writer.
Q: Do you have any last thoughts to share about Rachel Carson and the environment and your children's book?
A: I think that children who have the ability to be in nature really feel the awe and wonder. I remember going to the country—in Vermon—as a child and walking into the woods and feeling an incredible sense of wonder and spiritual sense of life. Now I have two kids who come up here from the city—to experience "fresh air"—and when I take them down to the stream in the woods, I can see their eyes get wide. I think children experience the awe and wonder of nature if given the chance to be in natural environments. And that's why I'd like kids to discover Rachel Carson.
|
|
Interview with Wendell Minor—Illustrator of Rachel |
|
Q: That Rachel Carson way of thinking shows in the artwork of the book as well. Wendell, in one of your pictures—the one in the "Phosphorescence" chapter of the book—you show the phosphorescent algae in the ocean, the fireflies in the children's hands, and the stars in the sky—the picture seems to share the brilliance of our world and that all the phosphorescence is also interconnected. Is this what were you thinking when you did it?
A: Right on the mark. And I was also thinking of the relationship between inner and outer space. There is the phosphorescence of the event in the ocean, and the phosphorescence of the firefly, and, in the outer universe, the twinkling or "phosphorescence" of the stars in the sky. It's a very subtle way of showing the relationship of all things in the universe as Rachel first discovered with the ocean.
Q: And what do you think of the way that Amy chose to highlight these parts of Rachel Carson's life?
A: Amy did a terrific job creating the story. There was a lot of information to pack into a thirty-two page picture book. Doing this "timeline" of very important periods in Rachel's life gives a real sense of her in very short sections. I think what every picture book should do is spark the reader's imagination—whether a teacher, or a child, or the parent—so that they want to learn more about that person or subject. I always look at picture books as steppingstones to greater knowledge and I think Rachel achieves this.
Q: How close did you get to the locations that were personal to Rachel Carson? Were you able to visit any of her favorite spots in order to create the illustrations?
A: Yes, Wood's Hole being one of them. It is only a 3.5 hour drive from where I live and I have friends near there. I went up there to photograph the lighthouse, and I walked on the beaches—which Rachel also did when she was a young research scientist there in about 1927. The one thing that really struck me about Rachel is that she was such a woman ahead of her time. By our standards today she would be considered a feminist and by all I've read, she had an uphill battle in doing the kind of work that she wanted to do. But she found the environment at Wood's Hole so invigorating and so inspiring that I think it had a tremendous impact on her whole life. I always believe that each individual, no matter who they are, is impacted by a sense of place. And primarily that is what my work is about—how a geographical location—your place of birth or a place you respond to—has a profound effect on how you perceive your life and even how the course of your life may change. I think Wood's Hole was one of those places for Rachel Carson.
Q: I believe you just attended an event in support of the Rachel Carson Council. What can you tell us about their efforts in educating young people about Rachel Carson and the environment, and how does the book, Rachel, complement these efforts?
A: I did a lot of my visual research at the Rachel Carson Council in Silver Spring, Maryland. A close colleague of Rachel founded it, years ago. Its primary function is to keep people abreast of the dangers of pesticides and other environmental hazards for the ecosystem. I called and asked if I could come down and look at their files. And in those files I found the wonderful photograph of Rachel at age five, which became the portrait of the cover. It's a previously unpublished photo—as far as I know. So to my knowledge this is the first portrait of Rachel at that age. I like to do extensive research. I also read three biographies of Rachel before I started the book so I really felt that I knew her and knew what she was about before I started to draw the pictures. In a biographical sketch, you owe it to the person to try to get to know them as much as you can.
Like Amy, it's very important to me that this book has been published, and I think it can complement the efforts of the Rachel Carson Council by helping to re-educate a generation as to who Rachel was and what she still represents. And that is the perseverance of spirit, the belief in what you want to do in life, and the belief in the larger cause, which is the benefit to humanity. Rachel's belief system and belief in what she was trying to tell the world in Silent Spring helped her to overcome the physical discomforts of her cancer for the greater good.
Q: You also had to overcome some barriers along the way. In fact, you have laughingly stated that ever since a child you first look at pictures and then read words—backwards, so to speak, to traditional reading methods. But, as a children's book illustrator, more often than not you are initially provided with a written story from which you must create the "pictures." How do you compensate for your natural tendencies—pictures first—in order to create illustrations that complement the writers' words?
A: Since I do have a high degree of visual imagination, I do get very clear pictures when I read words and, in children's literature, the words come first. However, when I write my own material I tend to create a visual storyboard of the story I want to tell and I will write after the pictures are drawn. Obviously when Amy Ehrlich submitted her manuscript it was the normal procedure—and the reverse of how I normally think. So what I do is take a manuscript, read it several times, and jot down little thumbnail ideas of visuals that come to my mind. So, I read the manuscript and then develop a visual storyboard from that point forward.
Q: So you don't compensate per se—you still read and think in pictures and thus create from the pictures in your head?
A: Everyone who reads a book has his or her own internal movie going. If you read a novel you get a sense of place, a sense of who people are, and what they look like. And I think that is one of the beauties of reading. I've always said that, in terms of the reader,nothing can match the visual insight of reading a book. An illustrator's job is rather daunting because I have the awesome responsibility of assuming the role of the reader by creating the pictures for them. It's very important for me to not tell too much of the stories in the pictures. I think I should complement the story, add a third dimension to the story, but try not to rob the reader of too much of their own imagination. That is a very fine line and sometimes it's hard to know when you've crossed it and when you haven't.
Q: Do you have any advice for young readers who share your visual learning process?
A: When I visit schools I often talk about this. I think that young students look at me as someone they deem "accomplished" and wonder how I got to where I am. And I tell them that I had to go to special reading classes from 2nd grade through 6th grade. My reading comprehension was poor and I think this was because, at the time I was in school, they switched from phonics to visual accelerated sight reading—which you think would have been better for me—but I missed the phonics part and the change confused me a great deal. There were a few teachers who understood that it wasn't about reading capability, but about comprehension. They worked with me and that, combined with the special reading classes, helped. There was also a sixth grade teacher who used to read to us at least thirty minutes everyday. He would read Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Jack London and at the age of twelve I began to really get a sense of the magic that reading could be by listening to this man's terrific base voice read to us this visual narrative. And one of the stories that he read was "Call of the Wild." Forty years later I had the chance to re-illustrate that story and dedicated the pictures to that man's memory because it had such a profound effect on me. I've always made a point of telling teachers that a child is never too old to read to (and that includes adults). There's a magic in it, and I think in a way, his reading to me got me over the comprehension hump—I knew I had to learn to read better because I knew the magic that was in those word by virtue of his oral narration of those words.
Q: So are you saying that inspiring a child to read is really the basis for improving their reading?
A: Yes, and I think the first five years are the most important. A parent who reads to their child on a consistent basis is giving their child such a tremendous advantage, not only for their schooling, but also really for the quality of their lives for the rest of their lives. And I think that the more technologically advanced that we become—constantly bombarded by more and more information—it's more important to remember what David McCullough likes to say, "information is not knowledge, it's just information." And if a person doesn't know how to comprehend it through reading, it is of no value.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amy Ehrlich
|
|
|
Wendell Minor
|
|
|
Rachel
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
