The Rainbow MinuteThe Rainbow Minute

Today's Rainbow Minute is "Rachel Carson and Earth Day", read by Suzanne Keller and aired at 07:59, 12:29 and 4:59…

 Earth Day has been celebrated every April 22 since 1970.  This year it falls on Sunday.  One person credited for the modern environmental movement and certainly an inspiration for the special day is American biologist and conservationist, Rachel Carson.  

Carson wrote lyrically about science, drawing the reader into the wonder of nature.  With her 1962 book, Silent Spring, she sounded the alarm about dangerous pesticides including DDT and their harmful effect on the food chain. 

Courageously bearing witness to nature, she became an iconic model for environmentalists today. 

Carson’s earlier book, The Sea Around Us, happened to be read by Dorothy Freeman, which helped cement a close bond that continued until Carson’s death from breast cancer in 1964.