“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived,” wrote Henry David Thoreau.  That first sentence, the mission statement that opens Thoreau’s book Walden, is permanently in my memory. Our eleventh grade English teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, Mrs. Karen Dennis, had all of us memorize that masterful sentence. 

Over the past week and currently continuing on Alabama Public Television and the PBS app is the latest Ken Burns documentary project, simply titled HENRY DAVID THOREAU.  This time around, Burns serves as executive producer alongside musician and Eagles drummer Don Henley. The film is directed by Erik and Christopher Ewers. Like every other Burns-helmed project, it is highly recommended viewing.

Michael Bird is an assistant professor at Faulkner University.