Larry Stone spent 25 years as the outdoor writer for the Des Moines Register, and Jon Stravers has been monitoring raptor nesting and migration research along the Mississippi River for more than 30 years; together they possess a deep knowledge of Iowaâ??s natural communities. Coauthors of Sylvan T. Runkel: Citizen of the Natural World, they have now collaborated on a biography of another influential naturalist: Gladys Black (1909â??1998), sometimes known as Iowaâ??s Rachel Carson. Their engaging, energetic text â?? based on Blackâ??s personal papers, letters, photos, and other memorabilia at the State Historical Society of Iowa; on interviews with relatives, colleagues, and friends; and on quotes from Gladysâ??s Des Moines Register columns â?? blends anecdotes from the wide variety of people who knew Gladys with a more straightforward bi