Dorothy Freeman (1898 – 1978) was arguably, if not the closest, one of Carson’s closest friends. They had several common interests, chiefly nature. They would share summers and meet whenever their schedules permitted. They frequently exchanged letters and shared an extremely close relationship. Freeman was a devoted housewife but her relationship with Carson, one could have said, was central to Carson’s life from the time they met in 1953. Though their relationship was mostly based on letters and writing, the language was very tender and romantic, as if they were lovers. To help her husband understand the relationship, Freeman would share their letters with him, which Carson accepted and appreciated, voicing her gratitude for Mr. Freeman’s understanding.

Freeman’s daily love and devotion sustained Carson. She expressed this multiple times in writing, In one letter, she writes:

… I hope you know, how wonderfully sustaining is the assurance of your constant, day-and-night devotion and concern. Without it, I truly don’t know what I would be doing now, when there are a good many otherwise dark days.

Carson’s appreciation for her friend was continually expressed in the numerous letters until her death in 1964.

Individuals who feel supported by their close friends tend to have a more positive outlook when faced with adversity. When Carson first met Freeman, she had just moved to Southport Island, Maine, with a bitter experience with the commercial world of production fresh in mind. Producer Irwin Allen had produced a successful documentary based on her book Under The Sea Wind despite her objections (Carson found the final script “a cross between a believe-it-or-not and a breezy travelogue”, and essentially untrue to the atmosphere of the book), and she found that her power to review the script did not extend to the control over its content. Biographer Linda Lear writes, “Carson sorely needed a devoted friend and kindred spirit who would listen to her without advising and accept her wholly, the writer as well as the woman.” Carson found this in Freeman, writing,

… it is quite necessary for me to know that there is someone who is deeply devoted to me as a person, and who also has the capacity and the depth of understanding to share, vicariously, the sometimes crushing burden of creative effort… The few who understood the creative problem were not people to whom I felt emotionally close; those who loved the non-writer part of me did not, by some strange paradox, understand the writer at all! And then, my dear one, you came into my life!

Carson’s friendship with Freeman would last the rest of her life. In her final years, embattled by cancer and her radiation therapy treatment, combined with the public outrage sparked by the publication of Silent Spring, Carson continued to find solace in Freeman’s love. Over time, their love and friendship grew, and this was expressed in their correspondence. During this particularly stressful time, she had positive social support of high quality that probably enhanced her resilience to that stress. Besides receiving emotional and companionship support from Freeman, Freeman’s complete acceptance of her gave her validation and a sense of belonging.

Shortly before Carson’s death, she and Freeman destroyed hundreds of letters. The remaining correspondence was published in Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952–1964: An Intimate Portrait of a Remarkable Friendship.