We are honored to welcome esteemed author and prize-winning journalist, Michael Grunwald to Delray Beach.
Michael will present his book, “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida & The Politics of Paradise,” heralded as one of the most important books written on the Everglades.
This is the stunning story of the destruction and possible resurrection of the Everglades, the saga of man’s abuse of nature in southern Florida and his unprecedented efforts to make amends.
The Everglades was America’s last frontier, a wild country long after the West was won. Grunwald chronicles how a series of visionaries tried to drain and “reclaim” it, and how Mother Nature refused to bend to their will; in the most harrowing tale, a 1928 hurricane drowned 2,500 people in the Everglades. But the Army Corps of Engineers finally tamed the beast with levees and canals, converting half the Everglades into sprawling suburbs and sugar plantations. And though the southern Everglades was preserved as a national park, it soon deteriorated into an ecological mess. The River of Grass stopped flowing, and 90 percent of its wading birds vanished.
Now America wants its swamp back. Grunwald shows how a new breed of visionaries transformed Everglades politics, producing the $8 billion rescue plan. That plan is already the blueprint for a new worldwide era of ecosystem restoration. And this book is a cautionary tale for that era. Through gripping narrative and dogged reporting, Grunwald shows how the Everglades is still threatened by the same hubris, greed and well-intentioned folly that led to its decline.
“Brilliant.” —The Washington Post Book World * “Magnificent.” —The Palm Beach Post * “Rich in history yet urgently relevant to current events.” —The New Republic
We are pleased to partner with the Institute for Regional Conservation, Sandoway Discovery Center, Surfrider Foundation, Surfing Florida Museum, and the Swinton Commnity Growing Project in welcoming Mr. Grunwald. All will be present to share their missions.
Thursday, March 19, 2026, 6:00pm
Old School Square Historic Gym, 51 North Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach
Cocktail Reception, Lecture, Meeting the Author/Book Signing
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