What Would Henry Do?

Thoreau Farm’s book series in which contemporary voices reflect on Henry David Thoreau’s enduring legacy. 

Today on our little planet, we live in bewildering times. We’re essentially faced with this question: what should we be thinking, saying, and doing about the challenges bearing down upon our lives?

Answers can be hard to come by. Yet we, the community of Thoreau Farm, believe we have to search for them. So we wondered, if Henry David Thoreau were alive today, what would HE think, what HE say, what would HE do?

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What Would Henry Do? Essays for the 21st Century, Volume II (2022)

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Watch Volume II Contributors in Conversation

Book Cover and Headshots of some of the authors. Senator Edward Markey Ken Lizotte Jane Goodall Carol Alonso Cal Armistead Bonnie Beaudet Margaret Carroll-Bergman M. Allen Cunningham Kevin Dann Kate Dike Blair Jim Earl Will Eno Ron Fein John ‘Fitzy” Fitzsimmons Adam Gamble Robert Ganz Patricia Nunez Garcia Robert Gross Barbara Hanno Huey Rochelle Johnson Jennifer Johnson Chynna Lemire Elise Lemire Michael Lorence Carolina Maciel David Maguire James Marcus Lawrence Millman John Hanson Mitchell Barbara Mossberg Tom O’Malley Sarah Oktay Henrik Otterberg Nicole Palmer Donna Przybojewski John Roman Rob Salafia Heidi Joy Schmidt Ben Shattuck Scott Slovic Kim Stafford Robert Sullivan Mark Thoreau Robert Thorson Nikki Turpin Geoff Wisner Tanya Wright

 

Foreword

Senator Edward Markey 

Introduction

Ken Lizotte, NOW What Would Henry Do? 

Featured Q & A

Jane Goodall, How to Save Our “Glorious Living Tapestry”

Essays

Carol Alonso, The Gift of History
Cal Armistead, What Would Henry Tell the Teens of Today?
Bonnie Beaudet, An Authentic Life
Margaret Carroll-Bergman, The Journals of Thoreau’s Long-Suffering Lifetime Companion
M. Allen Cunningham, A Few Good Would Nots
Kevin Dann, Casting for Real Magic at Cattle–Show
Kate Dike Blair, Henry’s Gem of the Woods
Jim Earl, That Villages Were Universities
Will Eno, The Present
Ron Fein, “You Idiots Really Screwed This Up”: A Message from Henry David Thoreau on the Turning of the Seasons, Climate Change, and the Purple Bladderwort
John ‘Fitzy” Fitzsimmons, Facing the Empty Page
Adam Gamble, What Wouldn’t Henry Do?
Robert Ganz, Thoreau In Search of Ever Wakeful Readers
Patricia Nunez Garcia, Observe, Resist, and Reflect
Robert Gross, The Man of Concord
Barbara Hanno, Henry’s Field Trip
Huey, Lessons from the Surveyor of the Soul
Rochelle Johnson, Surely, Anguish
Jennifer Johnson, Agriculture Comes Full Circle
Chynna Lemire, Divine Treasures
Elise Lemire, What Henry Did in 1971
Michael Lorence, Beginnings
Carolina Maciel, Between the Woodland and Jail
David Maguire, How Henry is Alive and Well in Concord Today
James Marcus, Thoreau on Hold
Lawrence Millman, Conversing with Henry
John Hanson Mitchell, Robin Hood and Henry Thoreau
Barbara Mossberg, Perturbing Despair: A Double Portrait of Thoreau as Chanticleer and Bug
Tom O’Malley, Writing with Henry
Sarah Oktay, Finding the Next Henry
Henrik Otterberg, Meme — And Memorable Thoreau
Nicole Palmer, Happiness and Henry
Donna Przybojewski, My Partner Teacher
John Roman, Henry Visits 2022
Rob Salafia, Seeking Meaning and Purpose in Work
Heidi Jon Schmidt, Would Henry Go Mad?
Ben Shattuck, Gardens
Scott Slovic, Look, Listen, Write
Kim Stafford, Walden on the Mountain
Robert Sullivan, So-Called Peace
Mark Thoreau, Question Authority
Robert Thorson, Seeking Respite in Natural Science
Nikki Turpin, Care for a Cup of Tea?
Geoff Wisner, Little Thoreaus Everywhere
Tanya Wright, Simply, Deliberately, Quietly
 

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Available Now!

What Would Henry Do? Essays for the 21st Century, Volume I (2017)

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Introduction

Ken Lizotte What Would Henry Think, Say, and Do?

Featured Essays

Jimmy Carter What Would Henry David Thoreau Do?
Joseph C. Wheeler Bringing Henry David Thoreau Up to Date
Margaret Carroll-Bergman Thoreau Farm: Birthplace of Henry David Thoreau, Birthplace of Ideas

Essays

Peter Alden Henry’s Focus on Nature
William Wheeler Anderson Illustrating Thoreau and Nature
Ed Begley, Jr. Happy Birthday, Henry!
Keith Bergman Environmentalism and Activism
Mary Byrne Bergman Old Cape Cod
Deborah Bier The Choice of Living Deliberately
Lawrence Buell What Would Henry Do – About Anything?
Tom Foran Clark Walking Around
Ernesto Estrella and Carlos Estrella Henry’s LinkedIn Profile (Abridged)
Michael J. Frederick Golden Compass
Jayne Gordon What Would Henry Thoreau Do When Confronted with Modern-Day Political, Environmental, or Social Issues?
Tim Hebert We Can Have the Courage
Ronald Wesley Hoag The Whole Circle of Experience
Shoko Itoh Two Major Ideological Frameworks of “Civil Disobedience:” The Philosophy of Neighbor and Ecological Thought
Maria Madison Documenting What Others Do Not See
Gregory Maguire Time Travel in Concord
Jack Maguire A Celebration: Two Concord Davids Stand Alone
Peter Manso Return to Cape Cod
Kristi Lynn Martin The “Problem” of Thoreau: Challenging the Reader to Inspire the Reader
Ivy Meeropol A Peaceful Spot in the Woods
Holly Nadler One of Several More Lives to Live
John M. Nevison Avoiding Thoreau
Ashton Nichols Henry David Builds His Hut
Barbara Olson What Would Henry Say?
Sandra Harbert Petrulionis Breaking the Law with Thoreau
John Pipkin Henry David Thoreau and the “New Nationalism” of the Present Day
Richard B. Primack Is Climate Change Really Happening in Concord?
Robert D. Richardson What Would Henry Do in 2017?
Tammy Rose “Lemme Tell You What I Would Do…” A Henry Monologue
Frank Serpico My Walden
Corinne H. Smith Dancing on the Eights
Richard Smith The Politics of Action
Sandy Stott What Henry Did
Libby Wagner Now This: A Thoreau Reflection
Laura Dassow Walls “What Would Thoreau Do?”
Leslie Perrin Wilson Would Thoreau Love Concord Now?
Anna West Winter Soliciting a Saunter
Jeff Zinn Desperate Heroes

Order Volume I