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Visiting Rachel: 50 Years After Silent Spring
"'Primavers Silencia.' So reads the cover of the Italian edition of Rachel
Carson's Silent Spring. It sits on the desk beside me--the small built-in desk
looking out on a thicket of cedars and pine--a desk with one simple drawer
holding some pencils and not much else, in the cozy pine-paneled study where
Carson wrote much of her landmark book during the summers of 1960 and 1961.
Other foreign editions are lined up on the bookshelf too, but the Italian title
grabs my attention. "Primavera"--a singsong word evoking pasta with spring
vegetables, or something related to "first."Prima, prime, primary, first. First
silence." More in this powerful piece commemorating the 50th anniversary of
Rachel Carson's prophetic publication.
