THE THOREAU SOCIETY, INC. IS MOVING ITS OFFICES
On October 1, 2009, The Thoreau Society is moving its offices to the Thoreau Farm and will occupy its new offices at the home where Henry D. Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817. Our new address is 341 Virginia Road, Concord, Massachusetts 01742. Our phone numbers remain the same.
The main number to reach The Thoreau Society is 978-369-5310.
THOREAU FILM SET TO PREMIERE AT FESTIVALS
Henry David Thoreau enthusiasts will be looking forward to upcoming film festival screenings of Marbles With Thoreau, directed by filmmaker Melody George and starring Chris Ackerman (Elektra) as Thoreau. Screening in San Diego, Boston, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles this September and October, this sixteen-minute short is one of seven Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award winners.
A thought-provoking but light family film, wherein Thoreau expounds on simple pleasures and purposeful living, Marbles was inspired by the American classic "Walden." Relevant in this time of economic recession and surging home foreclosures, Ms. George’s craft brings philosophy to the screen and beckons us to experience Thoreau’s cultured persona and wisdom. Served "food for thought," two latchkey kids surviving their mother’s labor’s in the textile mills of nineteenth century New England find their lives transformed at the cabin in the wood.
With interest in the film aroused in several production companies, scriptwriter Ms. George is already transforming the short for feature-length production. Financial supporters eager to facilitate production by the summer of 2010 are warmly invited to meet and greet this budding talent at festivals this Fall. Visit www.marbleswiththoreau.com for a screening schedule and more information.
BIRD
OBSERVATIONS NEEDED FOR CONCORD AND SURROUNDING TOWNS
Researchers
at Boston University are studying the effects of global warming
on spring arrival times of songbirds to the Concord area. For
past years, we are using the journals of Henry David Thoreau,
and ornithologists Brewster and Griscom. Now, we are in need of
records of arrival times for any years since 1960. If you have
records (or know any else who has such
records) of the arrival times of songbirds to Concord, Acton,
Carlisle, Bedford, Lincoln, Wayland, Sudbury and/or Maynard for
any recent span of years please contact us.
See: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/walden.html
for similar work done in our lab. Thank you!
Libby Bacon email: bacon@bu.edu.
Richard Primack email: primack@bu.edu
Tel: 617-353-2454. Professor
Richard Primack,
Biology Department,
Boston University,
5 Cummington Street,
Boston, MA 02215, Tel. 617-353-2454,
email: primack@bu.edu
DIGITAL AMERICANIST FORMED
Dear Colleagues: We are pleased to announce the
formation of a new professional organization designed to support
the scholarship and teaching of American literature and culture
using digital media.
The Digital Americanists was formally brought
to life at this year's American Literature Association in Boston,
and in the past couple of months we have established the necessary
frameworks to begin officially filling our membership rolls.
At our new wiki-based website, http://www.digitalamericanists.org,
you will find the constitution, an initial list of members, an
initial list of associated digital projects, a bibliography of
resources, some sample classroom syllabi and activities, and information
on how to become a member along with a description of the privileges
of membership.
After you've become a member and paid the modest
$10 annual fee (which can be done conveniently online), we invite
you to help build the wiki by adding information about yourself,
your digital projects, your teaching, and whatever else you feel
would be of interest to this community. Please join us in our
efforts to create a vibrant organization that can support this
growing field of American literature scholarship.
Andrew Jewell, President
Edward
Whitley, Vice-President
Amanda Gailey, Secretary/Treasurer
THE THOREAU SOCIETY IS RECIPIENT OF TWO NATIONAL AWARDS
[Artist John Roman
(left) stands before his work with Thoreau Society retail manager
Jim Hayden]
The
Thoreau Society is a co-recipient of two awards of excellence
in two separate national art exhibitions. The awards are for artwork
produced under a Thoreau Society Fellowship that was awarded in
2003 to artist/illustrator John Roman. Roman's recreation of Concord
as it appeared during Thoreau's time was honored in competitions
held in Los Angeles, by the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles,
and in New York, by the New York Society of Illustrators.
Three
years in the making, Roman's historically accurate view of 1845
Concord, Mass. depicts what Concord looked like the day Henry
David Thoreau took residence at Walden Pond (July 4, 1845). Working
closely with The Thoreau Society, The Thoreau Institute and several
Thoreau and Concord area historians, the artwork was exactingly
designed and rendered to replicate the look and style of an old
19th century bird's-eye-view city map lithograph. Bird's-eye-view
maps were quite prevalent and very popular during that period,
but, as unbelievable as it may seem, Concord was never the subject
of such a city-view map. Using antique maps and prints from The
Thoreau Institute's Henley Library archives as reference, Concord
has finally had its likeness illustrated in a classic 1800s art
form.
Roman's
original ink drawing will be on display at both national exhibitions
this spring where both he and the Thoreau Society will be recognized
for bringing this "new" old view of Concord to life.
20" x 30" gallery-quality prints of Roman's artwork
are available at the Thoreau Society's Shop at Walden Pond at
915 Walden Street in Concord, as well as on the shop's web site
at www.shopatwaldenpond.org
The
Thoreau Society and The Friends of Walden Pond have also produced
an exhibit based on Roman's map. The exhibit is on display in
The Tsongas Gallery at Walden Pond State Reservation through the
end of March, and examines several different areas of life in
1845 Concord as well as visiting the sites today.
The
Thoreau Society is the oldest and largest organization devoted
to an American author and is dedicated to promoting Thoreau's
life and works through education, outreach, and advocacy. Since
2001, they have been designated the Friends group of Walden Pond,
supporting the visitor services, conservation projects and park
operations at the State Reservation, site of Thoreau's experiment
in living deliberately (1845-1847) and inspiration for his classic
work, Walden (1854). ~~~~~
|
