Dandelion Roots Run Deep

'Dandelion Roots Run Deep' is co-authored by Merry Bell Clark and her mother, Merrill Ann Clark. This true story follows three generations of tenacious Midwestern women who were deeply committed to environmental issues. The story begins in the 1940s with Merrill, who began writing this book before beginning her battle with Alzheimer's in 2011.

Merrill Ann Clark grew up in Elgin, Illinois and graduated from St. Charles High School, then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. There, she met her husband, John CLARK, and they were married in 1959. They moved to Berkeley, California, where John earned a PhD in bio-chemistry and then they took a road trip to Boston where John had a position waiting for him at MIT. They had their first child in Boston and then John got a job at Notre Dame and they moved to Michigan, living in various locations until starting a 1500 acre organic farm in Cassopolis Michigan in 1980. Merrill was a devoted environmental activist, and always made sure her voice was heard. She was then on the National Organic Standards Board in 1992 which was the first group of people to determine what the term 'organic' would really mean.