A talk with Robert Thorson, author of The Boatman: Henry David Thoreau’s River Year

​Thoreau was known for Walden Pond, but in his new book The Boatman, Henry David Thoreau's River Year, Robert Thorson says he was a man of the river.

As a backyard naturalist and river enthusiast, Thoreau was keenly aware of the way humans had altered the waterways and meadows of his beloved Concord River Valley. And he recognized that he himself—a land surveyor by trade—was as complicit in these transformations as the bankers, lawyers, builders, landowners, and elected officials who were his clients.

Robert Thorson, PhD, Professor of Geology, University of Connecticut, shares a compelling story of intellectual growth and scientific understanding, as Thoreau moved from anger, to lament, to acceptance of the way humans had changed the river he cherished more than Walden Pond.

Robert Thorson’s book, The Boatman: Henry David Thoreau’s River Years, will be available for purchase and signing.