Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team In June 1962,
National Audubon Society President Carl Buchheister had read a
galley of Silent Spring just as The New Yorker installment was
running, and decided to back Carson. Lawyers from Velsicol
lobbed veiled threats at John Vosburgh (Audubon’s editor) and
Charles Callison (assistant to the NAS president) over lunch,
warning them to beware of associating with Carson. Big Chemical
was gearing up to blast her out of the water. Bravely, Vosburgh
and Callison ignored the Velsicol bullying, though they were
fearful of lawsuits. Audubon published an excerpt of Silent
Spring and criticized, in an editorial, Velsicol’s pesticide
programs (though it didn’t entirely endorse Carson’s argument).
Furthermore, Audubon Society branches in different cities and
states banded together to serve as refuges for Carson throughout
the summer and fall of 1962. Fighting a kind of guerrilla war
against Big Chemical, Carson spent time at the Audubon Camp in
Maine and attended a book