Louis Bromfield, a famous Lost Generation writer, ditched Paris for his native Ohio to finance a wild agrarian dream. He created Malabar, an experimental farm that spurred the organic farming and environmentalist movements, inspiring Rachel Carson. Back in Paris, Bromfield was renowned for his hospitality, green thumb, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writing, Hemingway and Wharton among his admirers. He also penned popular novels that translated to Broadway plays and Hollywood films. Yet his true passion lay in the soil. In 1938 he returned to Ohio, transforming 600 neglected acres into a cooperative farm, which attracted agricultural pioneers and celebrities such as Bogart and Bacall (married in 1945). This biography unveils a great American icon, a captivating and unique character who wrote, plowed, and meddled in politics and society. Ever defending the planet, Bromfield's mission is more needed today than ever before.
Authored by Stephen Heyman
Paperback
352 pages
20 illustrations
Measurements: 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
Published by W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 14, 2020)
