The World of the Salt Marsh is a wide-ranging exploration of the southeastern coastits natural history, its people and their way of life, and the historic and ongoing threats to its ecological survival.Focusing on areas from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, Charles Seabrook examines the ecological importance of the salt marsh, calling it ";a biological factory without equal."; Twice-daily tides carry in a supply of nutrients that nourish vast meadows of spartina (Spartina alterniflora)a crucial habitat for creatures ranging from tiny marine invertebrates to wading birds. The meadows provide vital nurseries for 80 percent of the seafood species, including oysters, crabs, shrimp, and a variety of finfish, and they are invaluable for storm protection, erosion prevention, and pollution filtration.Seabrook is also concerned with the plight of the people who make their living from the coast’s bounty and

The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast

Science & Math

Seabrook, Charles

Nature & Ecology

Wormsloe Foundation Pubns

The World of the Salt Marsh is a wide-ranging exploration of the southeastern coast―its natural history, its people and their way of life, and the historic and ongoing threats to its ecological survival. Focusing on areas from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, Charles Seabrook examines the ecological importance of the salt marsh, calling it “a biological factory without equal.” Twice-daily tides carry in a supply of nutrients that nourish vast meadows of spartina (Spartina alterniflora)―a crucial habitat for creatures ranging from tiny marine invertebrates to wading birds. The meadows provide vital nurseries for 80 percent of the seafood species, including oysters, crabs, shrimp, and a variety of finfish, and they are invaluable for storm protection, erosion prevention, and pollution filtration. Seabrook is also concerned with the plight of the people who make their living from the coast’s bounty and who carry on its unique culture. Among them are Charlie Phillips, a fishmonger whose livelihood is threatened by development in McIntosh County, Georgia, and Vera Manigault of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a basket maker of Gullah-Geechee descent, who says that the sweetgrass needed to make her culturally significant wares is becoming scarcer. For all of the biodiversity and cultural history of the salt marshes, many still view them as vast wastelands to be drained, diked, or “improved” for development into highways and subdivisions. If people can better understand and appreciate these ecosystems, Seabrook contends, they are more likely to join the growing chorus of scientists, conservationists, fishermen, and coastal visitors and residents calling for protection of these truly amazing places.

The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast (Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books)

University of Georgia Press

In September 1996, Cumberland Island blasted on to the national news scene when it was revealed that John Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette were married on the island in the First African Baptist Church--a simple one-room frame structure with eight handmade pews. When the flotilla of writers and photographers arrived on the island a few days later only to find themselves itching, sweating, and swatting at pestiferous gnats and bloodthirsty mosquitoes, they wondered why such a worldly and sophisticated couple had chosen such a tick-infested spot. 
 But the newlyweds were not the first to discover the mystique of Georgia's southernmost barrier island. Although the paparazzi may not have been enchanted with Cumberland Island, others felt differently. Town &amp; Country described this paradise as a place where "time seems to have stood still. It all evokes a sense of serenity and oneness with nature that is restorative." Elle said, "Cumberland is . . . an inspiration . . . From the monumental beach, where you can fly your spirit like a kite, to the shady mysteries of the forest, bearded with Spanish moss and alive with the cacophony of tree frogs at dawn, it is a place of captivating wonder." According to Southern Living, "This place is a fairy tale. The thickets of cabbage palm and resurrection fern, the roads of crushed oyster shell, the whinnies of wild horses floating on breezes, all sustain the soul mightily." 
 In Cumberland Island, Charles Seabrook uses his talent as an award-winning environmental writer to describe the island's natural bounty and to tell its long and intriguing history. Cumberland Island resembles a nonfiction version of a James Michener novel. The characters themselves are stranger than fiction, much in the same vein as those found in John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. 
 In Cumberland Island, you'll meet Catherine "Caty" Greene Miller, the widow of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene and the woman who inspired Eli Whitney to invent the cotton gin. She was also the inspiration behind Dungeness, the 30-room tabby mansion built on Cumberland Island in 1803. 
 You'll meet Robert Stafford, who sent his six children born to a slave named Zabette to live in an imposing home in New England, where they became part of the white high society there. All of his daughters married well, including one who wed a Russian count in Notre Dame. 
 There's Thomas and Lucy Carnegie, who used their Pittsburgh steel fortune to purchase acreage on the island. In 1885, they completed their mansion, which was built on the ruins of Caty Miller's home. A year later, Thomas died at age 43, but Lucy remained on the island to raise her nine children. Lucy Carnegie's granddaughter, "Miss Lucy" Ferguson, who many consider the toughest and orneriest of all the strong women who inhabited the island, reigned over the island during the 1960s and 1970s. The present-day generation is represented by Janet "GoGo" Ferguson, Miss Lucy's granddaughter, who made the arrangements for the Kennedy-Bessette wedding and crafted their wedding rings as well. 
 Another strong woman who currently resides on the island is Carol Ruckdeschel, a naturalist who was the subject of a John McPhee profile in the New Yorker in 1974. GoGo Ferguson and Carol were great friends until they disagreed on the future of the island. Their ensuing feud reveals the continuing debate among residents, conservationists, and developers about how the island should be managed. 
 In Cumberland Island, Charles Seabrook provides a fascinating look into the history of one of America's greatest natural treasures.

Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses

History

Americas

Blair

In September 1996, Cumberland Island blasted onto the national news scene when it was revealed that John Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette were married on the island in the First African Baptist Church―a simple one-room frame structure with eight handmade pews. When the flotilla of writers and photographers arrived on the island a few days later only to find themselves itching, sweating, and swatting at pestiferous gnats and bloodthirsty mosquitoes, they wondered why such a worldly and sophisticated couple had chosen such a tick-infested spot. In Cumberland Island, Charles Seabrook uses his talent as an award-winning environmental writer to describe the island’s natural bounty and to tell its long and intriguing history. You’ll meet Catherine “Caty” Greene Miller, the widow of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene and the woman who inspired Eli Whitney to invent the cotton gin. There’s Miss Lucy Ferguson, considered by many to be the toughest and orneriest of all the strong women who inhabited the island, reigning over it during the 1960s and ’70s. The present-day generation is represented by Janet “GoGo” Ferguson, Miss Lucy’s granddaughter, who made the arrangements for the Kennedy and Bessette wedding and crafted their wedding rings as well. Today, the island serves as a lightning rod for controversy. Although the island is currently under the purview of the National Park Service, some descendants still reside on the island. The dispute over the sale of land by cash-strapped landowners to commercial developers creates as much heated debate as the discussion of how the Park Service should balance the management of a wilderness area with the privileges accorded the residents. Included in these two debates are the questions of whether the island’s signature wild-horse herd should be dispersed because of the environmental damage it wreaks and whether the historic mansions that still pepper the island be allowed to crumble to ruin for the sake of wilderness preservation. Charles Seabrook has been a long-time environmental writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His popular weekly column called "Wild Georgia" was the victim of cutbacks. However, in 2008, the paper reinstituted the column due to reader demand. In 1981, Seabrook was one of the first reporters in the world to write about a mysterious and burgeoning disease that would soon be known as AIDS. In addition, he has written extensively on global warming, air and water pollution, and songbird decline. He has won awards from the National Wildlife Federation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and various press organizations. His newspaper series about Georgia’s mining industry won the Investigative Reporters and Editors “Best Story of the Year” award in 1994. In 2001, the state of Georgia gave him the R. L. "Rock" Howard Award, its highest conservation award. He lives in Decatur, Georgia.

The story of the billion-dollar kaolin industry and the people who live in poverty above the untold wealth beneath them.

Red Clay, Pink Cadillacs and White Gold: The Kaolin Chalk Wars

Louza, Marcy

Longstreet Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Seabrook, Charles. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Seabrook, Charles

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Seabrook, Charles. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast

The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast (Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books)

Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses

Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses

Red Clay, Pink Cadillacs and White Gold: The Kaolin Chalk Wars