The Sage of Biscayne Bay 67


 tropical growth, a thing of joy and inspiration. Year in and year
 out its greenery, its peace and quiet have appealed to me and
 from it I have learned some of the most valuable lessons of my
 life.26

And, in those days, a short distance to the west lay the Everglades.
It would be nine years before there was electricity and ice.
 In Lemon City, Thelma Peters wrote that at the Sentinels a
"vista was opened to the bay through the mangrove, and a path was
built up with rocks across the swamp, giving access to the dock,
boathouse and pavilion that Simpson built over the water. The pavil-
ion, open to the breezes, was a favorite spot of the Simpsons', and
they often entertained their friends there."27 And of friends there
were many, such as fellow naturalists David Fairchild, John Kunkel
Small, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Wilson Popenoe, John Gifford, Marjory
Stoneman Douglas and others who both shared Simpson's apprecia-
tion of the unique South Florida environment and also made a name
for themselves in part by writing about it. Later in life, Mrs. Simpson's
daughter, Marion Roper, recalled that one of the visitors to the Sen-
tinels was James Deering, who came to consult with Simpson about
the landscaping of Vizcaya, his stunning Mediterranean villa on Bis-
cayne Bay. "Mr. Deering was a very serious man most of the time,"
Miss Roper said, "but after a drink or two he became jovial and full
of fun."28 And then there were the neighbors and the endless pro-
cession of garden clubs. Toward the end of his life, Simpson once
estimated that he had shown as many as fifty thousand people around
his garden. According to David Fairchild, "Simpson's charming per-
sonality and unfailing generosity towards everyone who came for
information or plants made his place a general rendezvous."29
 In his book, A Yank Pioneer in Florida, Allen Andrews, after
a visit to the Sentinels, characterized Simpson as:

 Most gracious and kindly, especially to kindred souls who are
 interested in Florida wild life and its preservation. One might
 ordinarily be inclined to visualize an outstanding authority on
 botany, tree snails and Florida wild life as a dry-as-dust indi-
 vidual, entirely wrapped up in his scientific investigations and
 devoid of all sense of humor. On the contrary, the Doctor is
 possessed of a keen wit that is continually effervescing, and