The Wide Brim: Early Poems and Ponderings of Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Before she wrote THE EVERGLADES: RIVER OF GRASS, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas worked the daily grind at the Miami Herald and also "slaved in the vineyards" of the Saturday Evening Post. This gorgeous volume is the first time some of her incidental writings have seen print. It is worth the price for that alone, although one wishes for a greater understanding of what had taken place in her life before she got to Florida in the first place. Until we see the autobiography of Douglas that Jack Davis, the editor of this volume, has been working on for some years, these often light and deceivingly carefree tidbits are out of focus. But it's awfully good to get a glimpse of Florida's most famous curmudgeon before she became an icon.