Ray is the author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, and a central figure in the book’s narrative. Ray is born in 1962 to Franklin and Lee (referred to as Daddy and Mama), who own a junkyard on the outskirts of Baxley, Georgia. As a child, Ray constantly longs to play in the junkyard or in the wilderness that surrounds her home. Ray often hides from her mother in the junkyard, leading Mama to call her “half wild” (8).

Throughout the memoir, Ray explores how several key childhood experiences form a larger environmental consciousness that shapes her adult life. Though Daddy rarely displays a passion for the environment, Ray’s interest in nature is first piqued by her grandfather Charlie, who spent years living on his own in the wilderness as a teenage runaway. In her school years, Ray forms a strong bond with her science teacher, Mrs. Godfrey, who teaches Ray of the unique biological diversity that exists within her hometown. In college, Ray enrolls in numerous courses in biology and botany, learning about environmentalism and the importance of preserving our natural landscape. Ray’s passion for the wilderness leads her to develop a deep ecological consciousness, and she feels herself deeply connected to the natural lands that she inhabits: “Here [in the longleaf pine forests] I walk shoulder to shoulder with history–my history” (69)