Writing Thoreau: A ‘Masterpiece’ Biography

Hermit, gadfly, scientist, crank, teacher, saint—and one of America’s greatest writers: even Thoreau’s closest friends said he was too many-sided and mischievous to fit between the covers of a book. Yet each generation has tried. In the words of his latest biographer, “The Thoreau I sought was not in any book, and so I wrote this one.” Who was this Thoreau? Join Professor Walls as she describes how she wrote the life of an American icon in her latest work, “Henry David Thoreau: A Life”, winner of the 2017 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography. Laura Dassow Walls, William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English presented this lecture during Reunion 2018.

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