Lessons of the seashells
Weaving history, science, and culture, Cynthia Barnett’s new book unlocks what we’ve missed about these ocean gems By Ron Cunningham | Photos by Betsy Hanson Featured image above: Environmental author Cynthia Barnett in the light-filled office where she wrote The Sound of the Sea, her arm resting on the four books she has authored. The first three dealt with fresh water issues; this one “really completes the hydrologic cycle for
Let’s Talk About Water
Florida Humanities is partnering with seven locations across Florida to bring the Smithsonian “Water/Ways” exhibit back to the state. “Water/Ways” is part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program that brings nationally curated exhibits to small communities across America. Communities hosting the exhibition have an opportunity to dive into water — an essential component of life on our planet environmentally, culturally, and historically. By Janet Scherberger Featured image
The woman who stopped the canal
Marjorie Harris Carr
Zoologist, environmental activist (Gainesville)
Years: 1915–1997
Written In Water, Florida’s story–and ours
By Jacki Levine Featured image above: A colorful sunset provides a dramatic backdrop to silhouettes of mangroves in the Ten Thousand Islands, the beginnings of the Everglades. Photo by Alex Freeze. It is said when Ponce de Leon’s expedition made landfall on our east coast in April 1513, he named the region “La Florida,” after both the lush, flowering vegetation greeting him onshore, and “Pascua Florida,” the Easter season he
The peace of the manatee
FORUM Magazine: Spring 2021 – Written in Water. Vol. XLV, No 1 Spring 2021.
Water as We Look to the Future
Just as the ancient Floridians coped with the uncertainty of rising seas, today our state considers how to navigate — and build for — a flooded terrain. Designing a future to meet the rising seas In coastal Florida, treasured old buildings are raised up and new ones reimagined, but will that be enough to hold back the waters? By Ron Cunningham Crawfish” Eddie Walker built his stilt shack over salt
Voices of the Bay
“When you’ve seen a million beautiful sunsets or sunrises, how do you pick one out?” Voices of the Florida Bay Project: Captain Eddie Wightman, fishing guide Interview by Emma Haydocy When it comes to telling the story of an endangered waterway, who better to call upon than those who have spent their lives upon its waters? That’s how Captain Eddie Wightman came to sit down with Emma Haydocy, executive director
A magical place, revisited
A return to the Sound, and the source On a journey with his daughter to his boyhood home, this writer rediscovers the waterways that sparked a life’s passion. By Jack Davis I paddled the kayak. Nine-year-old Willa sat behind and above me on the hull with her legs dangling in the cockpit. She was the beauty queen on top of a convertible’s rear seat in the hometown parade. I was
The Sewing Box and the Great Blue
By Hannah Gorski A classmate tells me she’s paddling up Salt Creek to retrieve the dead heron our class found on the last trip. My eyes shift from the paper I’m reading to squint over the harbor. I remember the bird, a Great Blue, the largest heron in North America. I had not expected that blue, tangled mass strangled by skeins of fishing line. The bird’s sodden feathers spread with
On the water, of the waters
Photos and essay by Angelique Herring Photo by Angelique Herring Photo by Angelique Herring I moved to Florida from Baltimore to attend Eckerd College in 2015, but I’d been dreaming of living here since I was a kid. I fell in love with the weather and the water long before my feet hit the Florida sand on my 8th birthday. Growing up, I dreamt of being minutes away from the
