Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
By Janisse Ray
Completed June 18, 2008

Janisse Ray carefully intertwined two distinct themes in her autobiographical book, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. First, there was the theme of her family - an interesting tapestry of men (mostly) and women who made up her genetic landscape. Second, there was the ecological theme - chapters about the deforestation of south Georgia. Ray loved, admired and respected her family and her forest, and this tenderness made her memoir charming and memorable.

Wrapped in the sweet cadence of her language, I especially enjoyed reading about Ray's family. That was a colorful bunch. Most of the men suffered from mental illness, which Ray depicted with dignity. But they were also resourceful - living off the land and inventing machines from scraps. I could hear their drawl in every page.

All in all, I enjoyed this short book about this beautiful region of our country, their Southern ways and Ray's determination to protect and preserve the land that she loves. ( )

Cross Creek
By Marjorie Rawlings
Completed January 25, 2008

Cross Creek is the memoir of Marjorie Rawlings, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Yearling, when she lived on her farm in central Florida. Originally published in 1942, Rawlings settled in Florida after she divorced her husband in 1933. Cross Creek documents Rawlings’ joys and challenges of handling the wild Florida nature, weather and citizens. Written in an easy, humorous style, Rawlings transports her readers to the place of hammocks and hurricanes, rattlesnake crossings and mewing cows, and orange blossoms and sand.

Each chapter of her memoir reads like a short story, covering a certain topic. There are chapters devoted to all four seasons. Other individual chapters discuss snakes, bugs, her neighbors and her house. Rawlings is in her element when she writes about nature, and as a fellow Floridian, I can “see’ what Rawlings wrote about in her memoir. Readers of The Yearling would not be a stranger to Rawlings’ natural writing style – and would feel at home reading Cross Creek.

Many readers, however, may be uncomfortable with Rawlings’s depiction of her African-American workers. The writer employed blacks to work in her home and groves, and she often had a difficult time managing her staff. Her opinions of their intellect and abilities are archaic, and in our 21st century wisdom, readers may cringe at her descriptions. With that said, Rawlings is a product of her time. She is not filled with hatred – but rather ignorance – an important fact to remember while reading Cross Creek.

I highly recommend Cross Creek to readers of Marjorie Rawlings’s books, to those who want to learn about Florida history and to readers who enjoy books about nature. ( )

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For those of you interested in seeing Marjorie Rawlings’s Florida homestead, I would highly recommend these sites. I hope to visit this place in 2008; it’s only a few hours north of my home, and I have heard that it’s an interesting site to see.

Florida State Parks

Friends of Marjorie Rawlings's Farm

Wikipedia article 

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