Not only was Gene Stratton-Porter one of Indiana's most well-known authors, but she was also an environmentalist, photographer, and artist. Gene shared her passion for the environment and wildlife in her writing and used her influence to fight for the preservation of nature and alert others to the importance of their natural surroundings.
Born in 1863 in Indiana, she grew up with a love of nature and spent most of her innocent childhood wandering through farms and forests, catching butterflies and observing birds like doves and small animals like geese. In 1886, Gene married Charles Porter. Although she expressed happiness with her family life, Gene lived a more independent life traditionally unavailable to women in the late nineteenth century. Gene insisted on writing and photographing wildlife around her cabin near Limberlost Swamp. There she expressed her passionate feelings towards nature and its preservation. She spent much time in Limberlost, and later the cabin became the site where she conducted field studies on Indiana's natural environment.
Early in her life, Gene studied nature in the Limberlost Swamp and recorded her thorough observations through photographs and detailed writings. Gene published dozens of books—novels, nature studies, poetry collections and children's books. Her books mainly connect readers to natural settings and earn her a high reputation. One of her best-known novels, A Girl of the Limberlost is about a lonely girl who lives on a farm and escapes from her sufferings in Limberlost.
Gene's legacy (遗留物)is visible not only within her books, photography and films but also within the Limberlost Swamp, which eventually faded away to the farmland. Fortunately, through her hard work and dedication, the land is slowly being restored to its natural state, with over 400 acres preserved for nature study today.
