In The Sherlock Society, who was the reporter, soldier, and suffragette who was the single greatest advocate for protecting the Everglades?

• A. Marjory Stoneman Douglas
• B. Rachel Carson
• C. Jane Goodall
• D. Dian Fossey

Answer: (A)

The question tests your ability to connect a person’s combined roles to a major environmental achievement. Marjory Stoneman Douglas fits all three descriptors: she trained as a reporter, she was involved in the suffrage movement, and she became the most prominent advocate for protecting the Everglades. As a journalist, she could document and share the drama of the Everglades, bringing attention to its fate. Her sustained activism for women’s rights shows she was a determined advocate for change, and most famously she dedicated decades to preservation of the Everglades, earning the title often given to her as the leading defender of that landscape. Her writing, especially The River of Grass, helped shift public opinion and spurred conservation efforts.

The other names are celebrated environmental voices, but they don’t align with all the roles described here. Rachel Carson is a key environmental writer and advocate, but not tied to the Everglades or suffrage; Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey are renowned for primatology and wildlife conservation, not for Everglades advocacy or suffrage involvement.