Portrait of an Island

by John Teal, Mildred Teal, Richard Rice (Illustrator)

Overview

When Mildred and John Teal moved to Sapelo Island, Georgia, in 1955, they stepped back in time to a virtually undeveloped landscape of salt marsh, maritime forest, freshwater ponds, sand dunes, and beaches. Over the course of a four-year stay their careful observations of the island's unique marine ecology and wonderfully varied flora and fauna became the basis for Portrait of an Island. The island's human history dates back more than four thousand years. The lure of Sapelo has drawn many to its shores, including tobacco millionaire R. J. Reynolds, who established the University of Georgia Marine Institute there in the 1950s. Surrounded by sixteen thousand acres of pristine marsh, Sapelo offers researchers and the public a rare opportunity for environmental studies. Now a state game refuge and national estuarine sanctuary, the island remains a special haven where humans and nature quietly and peacefully coexist. Portrait of an Island is essential reading for anyone who treasures tranquility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820319612
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	10/01/1997
Series:	Brown Thrasher Books Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

JOHN TEAL is a scientist emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and an environmental consultant. He is coauthor, with Mildred Teal, of Diary of a Salt Marsh and other books.

MILDRED TEAL is coauthor, with John Teal, of Diary of a Salt Marsh and other books. She works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

John Teal (Author)
JOHN TEAL is a scientist emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and an environmental consultant. He is coauthor, with Mildred Teal, of Diary of a Salt Marsh and other books.

Mildred Teal (Author)
MILDRED TEAL is coauthor, with John Teal, of Diary of a Salt Marsh and other books. She works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

In the best tradition of writers of natural history, the authors have presented their own discoveries of wild life and sea life in a meaningful, readable combination of accurate scientific observations, colorful descriptions, and unsentimental appreciation.

Horn Book

Outstanding.

Natural History

This engagingly unpretentious account of the island and what the authors found there is informative—and happily evokes the idyllic atmosphere of the place.

Audubon Magazine

Outstanding.

Natural History

"In the best tradition of writers of natural history, the authors have presented their own discoveries of wild life and sea life in a meaningful, readable combination of accurate scientific observations, colorful descriptions, and unsentimental appreciation.”--Horn Book

"It will be most useful to island visitors, and the informal observations on insects, lizards, birds, and other animals of land, shore, and salt marsh provide interesting reading for the armchair adventurer."--Natural History

"This engagingly unpretentious account of the island and what the authors found there is informative—and happily evokes the idyllic atmosphere of the place."--Audubon Magazine

From the Publisher