When we think of Rachel Carson, we usually think of her groundbreaking book Silent Spring and her role in launching the modern environmental movement. But before she became a household name, Carson wrote three books about the sea and honed her skills as a freelance writer—starting right here at The Baltimore Sun. These earlier works don’t often come up in discussions of literary journalism, yet they fit squarely into the genre. Her career also highlights how much more we have to fully write the history of environmental journalism as a unique and important piece of the literary journalism puzzle. This talk is based on a scholarly paper that has been accepted for publication by the journal Literary Journalism Studies, published by the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies.

Stacy Spaulding is a professor of journalism and the chair of the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University, where she has taught since 2007. Her career began in the newsroom as a reporter for the San Bernardino Sun. After leaving in 1998, she pursued advanced studies, earning a Master’s degree from American University in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2005. Her academic work reflects a commitment to exploring the history and impact of journalism, particularly in Baltimore. Her research has examined an eclectic range of topics, including an exploration of the food writing of H.L. Mencken, an oral history project documenting the experiences of volunteers who worked for nearly two decades to save the Mencken House, and a historical account of blackface performances in the 1970s and 80s at a neighborhood bar two doors down from her rowhome in East Baltimore.