![]() He was particularly interested in the frontier and Native Americans. ![]() He traveled often to the Maine woods, and to Cape Cod several times. He returned to Concorde after two years with his book, Walden, but not many showed an interest in it, so he spent the next nine years writing seven full drafts before trying to publish it. He gave a lecture and was imprisoned briefly for not paying his poll tax, but mostly he wrote a book as a memorial to a river trip he had taken with his brother, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. While at Walden, Thoreau did an incredible amount of reading and writing, yet he also spent much time wandering in nature and absorbing it. At the age of 28, in 1845, wanting to write his first book, he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson. He worked for several years as a surveyor, and making pencils with his father. ![]() He and his brother taught school for a while, but in 1842, John cut himself while shaving and died of lockjaw in his brother's arms, an untimely death which traumatized the 25 year old Henry. Thoreau grew up very close to his older brother John, who taught school to help pay for Henry's tuition at Harvard. One of his first memories was of staying awake at night 'looking through the stars to see if I could see God behind them.' One might say he never stopped looking into nature for ultimate Truth. He was a complex man of many talents who worked hard to shape his craft and his life, seeing little difference between them. ![]() Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts. ![]()
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