Seabrook to Speak at Cobb Luncheon

Writer Charles Seabrook will be the speaker at the April luncheon of the the Cobb Library Foundation.

Seabrook has lived in Atlanta for most of his life, but at his core, he's a Lowcountry boy. His surname, of course, is a dead giveaway—Seabrook Island is named for his ancestors, who settled the barrier island centuries ago. With his new book, The World of the Salt Marsh, Seabrook returns to the land of his childhood to explore the delicate, unique ecosystems of the Southeastern coastline.

Seabrook worked as an environmental writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for decades before retiring in 2005 to focus on writing books, though he still contributes a popular weekly column to the paper called "Wild Georgia." A friend at the University of Georgia Press pitched the idea of Salt Marsh to Seabrook, but he was initially hesitant. "I thought a lot of the writing on salt marsh had already been done," he says. "I didn't think there was even enough material to write a book. And then I realized that was not true. You can write volumes about it, as far as I'm concerned."

Over the next five years, he researched the marshes, focusing on the area within the South Atlantic Bight, an indentation in the coastline stretching from Cape Hatteras, N.C. to Cape Canaveral, Fla. He read scientific papers and interviewed ecologists and island residents and discovered that the quiet coast he grew up on is one of the world's most remarkable natural systems. Like a biological factory, the marshes serve as a water purifier, a storm dissipater, and a shelter for thousands of creatures.

The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 24 at the Marietta Country Club. The cost is $30, which includes lunch.

Editor's note: This was contributed by the Cobb Library Foundation.