naturalist

THE OTHER FENIMORE COOPER By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com After reading “Rural Hours,” Charles Darwin, of all people, mentioned Susan Fenimore Cooper in a letter to Asa Gray, perhaps the most important American botanist of the 19th Century. Struck by her understanding of the “battle” between Old and New World weeds, he asked, “Who is she?” Nowadays, we know the “weeds” she was writing about were “invasive species,” a burning environ-mental issue in Glimmerglass’ environs even today, 125…