The McDonough County Voice
Shortly before Earth Day (April 22), I prepared and delivered a computer-based (i.e., Zoom) program for Springfield-area residents on nature writer and historian Virginia Eifert (1911-1966). Her many books, articles, and art works are in a collection at the WIU Library Archives, and I have written about her vision and achievement several times, starting in 1978. She promoted awareness of, and appreciation for, nature throughout her life.
Eifert also spoke out for environmental preservation, asserting that “we must save what is left [of nature] before there is nothing left to save.” While I was discussing her work as a writer and artist focused on the natural world, for that online program, I couldn’t help thinking that she would be appalled by the vast damage to the natural world that is increasingly evident today and threatens our very existence.