Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy: The Activist Who Saved Nature from the Conservationists

Written with disarming and compelling glee, Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy, by Dyana Z. Furmansky, tells the unlikely story of how a poor little rich girl became the most effective American conservationist between John Muir and Rachel Carson.

Clearly relishing every moment of Edge's remarkable life, Furmansky vividly enriches environmental history with her inspiring portrait of this indomitable champion of the wild.

At a time when the future of environmentalism--and the planet--is in question, Furmansky's book pays tribute to a woman who protected ecosystems during difficult economic times, penning inflammatory pamphlets to incite public outrage, harassing the staid leaders of organizations such as Audubon, and lending her voice to scientists too nervous to publicly question common practices, such as poisoning and trapping wildlife. Edge had fire in the belly--and Furmansky's book serves as a timely reminder that today's conservation movement could use a few more firebrands.

It is high time that the full story be told of Rosalie Barrow Edge, an indomitable and early preservationist of birds--especially of hawks and eagles. Furmansky details Edge's battles with the Audubon Society as well as with despoilers of national parks in such a way that Rosalie Edge's role in the history of environmentalism will be restored to its rightful place.

In Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy, Dyana Furmansky restores Rosalie Edge to her proper place in the pantheon of American conservation--a savvy, sharp-tongued, take-no-prisoners activist we should thank every time we gasp in wonder at an old-growth forest of sequoias or sugar pines, walk through an unsullied national park, or watch a hawk circle unmolested in the autumn sky. This biography is a tribute, long overdue, to a warrior for nature.

A product of extensive research, Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy, chronicles the many accomplishments of a remarkable person while it reveals the often-dramatic story of her life and sheds light on her times. What more can be asked of a biography? Furmansky reveals the early history of land preservation in America to be a story of intrigue, betrayal, anger, and, occasionally, victory. At the center stands a hero, Rosalie Edge--tragic, imperious, and obsessed.

Virtually lost for fifty years, the story of Rosalie Edge is brought to life in this remarkable, engaging biography. If you call yourself an environmentalist--or simply a citizen of the earth--you have to read this book.

Finally, a full and appreciative biography of one of the most significant environmentalists of the twentieth century. Rosalie Edge was unique, a rare species, and nobody else could have achieved what she did. At a time between the world wars when conservation had become too cautious and conservative, too organized, Edge revived the movement by returning to its roots, to the former role of fearless amateur radicals like herself. In the independent founding spirit of John Muir, she called out nature's enemies wherever she found them, from industrial polluters to the halls of Congress to the august chambers of the National Audubon Society. Dyana Furmansky, with the authority of her deep research, tells the story in full detail, and thereby places Rosalie Edge where she belongs in the pantheon of great American environmentalists.