The Book of Twelve for South Florida Gardens

Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born April 7, 1890 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was raised in Taunton, Massachussets after the divorce of her parents. Marjory attended the public school in Tauton, and Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she majored in English composition, graduating in 1912 with an A. B. degree. After her mother's death and the end of her brief marriage, Douglas moved to Miami to work with her father, Frank Stoneman, then the editor of The Miami Herald. Douglas left the Herald in 1923 after many years working on the Galley, a daily column that always included a poem. As an assistant editor on the paper, Douglas also wrote editorials urging protection and development of Florida's unique regional character in the face of rapid commercial development. After leaving the paper, she devoted herself to her literary career, writing of short stories, forty (40) of which were published in the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines between 1923 and 1938, many winning O. Henry and other awards. In 1947, Douglas published "The Everglades: River of Grass", a best-selling guide and natural/political history that not only raised public consciousness regarding the Everglades but also helped to diminish the national misperception of wetlands in general as swamps. Douglas also became a leader of the successful campaign for the establishement of Everglades National Park and in 1969 helped to found the conservation organization, Friends of the Everglades. Marjory Stoneman Douglas died in her home in Coconut Grove, Florida, on May 14, 1998 at the age of 108.