Branner Blog

Inspiring and enlightening essays on land restoration comprise Louis Bromfield’s farm books, most notably “Pleasant Valley” (1945) and “Malabar Farm” (1948). An Ohio native, the author (1896-1956) achieved early fame and fortune writing fiction, enabling him to travel and live abroad for most of his twenties and thirties. With the advent of WW II, he left France and returned with his family to Pleasant Valley, where he bought four “worn-out” farms, with the goal of restoring them to health and productivity. His principles were sound, his vision idyllic, his energy prodigious, and his writing about agriculture both accessible and inspirational. Bromfield’s novels are now seldom read , but the 1926 Pulitzer Prize winner’s most important legacy is apparent today at Malabar Farm State Park and in his non-fiction environmental classics.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Environmental Classics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.