Deputy Principal revisits Walden

Deputy Principal Professor Geoff Ward recently spent 10 days in the USA, recording a programme for BBC Radio 3.

The programme, entitled, 'Walden Revisited', examined the book 'Walden: Or Life in the Woods' by the American writer Henry David Thoreau. 2004 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book.

Geoff explains, "Thoreau was a mystic, and a key member of the Transcendentalist movement, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was also an important natural historian, is godfather to the current ecology movement, and was interested in environmental conservation way ahead of his time. He also detested slavery and was revered by Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and other followers of non-violent political protest. Walden is the name of the woods where he lived for a couple of years."

Together with a BBC producer, Geoff attended the annual conference of the Thoreau society, where he interviewed academics, environmentalists, a psychiatrist, and others interested in Thoreau. He also interviewed novelist Alexander Theroux on Cape Cod, and the programme contained reactions to Thoreau by Rick Moody and other contemporary writers.