ABSTRACT
This chapter recounts the work of two environmentalist icons in order to support and exemplify the uncertain ethics and pace of ambiguity introduced in the previous chapter. In Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a journalist who helped build the case for preserving the Everglades, we see an embrace of multiple perspectives and complexity that called her readers to truly engage with the complexities of particular places and communities. In Rachel Carson, a science writer who inspired wonder for the sea and built the case against toxic pesticides, we see a respect for the nonhuman world that led to genuine humility and a unique “sea ethic” that teaches readers to resist simple and mechanistic narratives about the world. Both women refused to live by received rules and roles and so model an ethic that seeks to build new realities and possibilities.
