Henry David Thoreau, the sage of a Walden Pond and the Transcendentalist writer and philosopher of early 19th century Concord, Massachusetts was not, as many people believe, a grumpy reclusive hermit living out in the woods, escaping from society. Anyone who has ever been to Walden Pond knows it is actually a short walk into town, especially for someone like Thoreau who regularly walked four to eight miles a day. And the close proximity to "civilization" is often used to criticize Thoreau for being a poseur or a fraud. In fact, a New Yorker article from years ago raised the ire of a many a Thoreauvian when the writer railed against Thoreau as "pond scum" because, according to her, he walked into town for his mother to do his laundry. That hit piece of unresearched commentary has been roundly exposed and criticized for all it gets wrong, and it's not worth extending the discussion here.
For, I am much more interested in revealing the fully engaged citizen and community member Thoreau who was a shining example of the rebel and the punk who achieved the impressive feat of living in society while also apart from it. The Walden experiment was actually an exercise in non-conformity, and the book reads as a guidebook for nonconformists. Thoreau was well aware of his surroundings and quite familiar with the wilderness and the natural world. If he wanted to truly escape society and live out in the woods away from people, he most certainly would have. Instead, his decision was, according to renowned Thoreau biographer Laura Dassow Walls, "an iconic work of performance art." His proximity to town and his regular visits (as well as receiver of visitors) was intended to ensure his actions were "performed on a very public stage."
Thoreau's intent was quite literally to rattle the bars of society and raise important questions about how to live. And, I am writing about Thoreau today as a bit of a reflection on the work I am doing with Thoreau and the punk rock ethos. What began as a simple magazine piece of pop culture criticism has actually become a bit of a passion. And I wrapped up my teaching career last may to pursue a fellowship of sorts, researching and writing about The Punk on Walden Pond. My initial plan and goal was to pursue this project in an official fellowship or MFA program, but when those options didn't pan out, I moved up to Fort Collins where I've been writing about music and trying to turn this idea into something more.
We'll see how it goes. Check back occasionally to learn a bit more about what I call Thoreauvian Punk.
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