A
Naturalist and
novelist. She was was also possibly the most popular author in the United States and one of the best known
nature photographers in the world until
World War I.
Between 1903 and 1924 she authored nine nature studies and
twelve novels.
A Girl of the Limberlost (1909) is perhaps the best remembered of her novels. Owing to
Porter's popularity, eight
were eventually made into
movies.
Today the Gene Stratton-Porter State
Historical Site (
named Limberlost
North) in the
Indiana forest is a tourist
attraction and a
tribute, of sorts. More than 40,000 people visit it annually. The
museum is on 20 of the 150
acres
Porter originally owned.