Miscellaneous

Ephraim Bull is famous for making the Concord grape famous. He bred a grape to survive the harsh winters of Concord. He became a state representative. 

Thoreau's first public speech was on Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), who roughly lived when Shakespeare did. He was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I. I feel like I'm just starting to learn history. See the painting below for what Raleigh looked like.

Horace Greeley visited concord. He would later hire Margaret Fuller. 

I find it so weird that women were not allowed to speak in public. 

Wendell Phillips (1811-18884) was an abolitionist who came and spoke in Concord, despite John Keyes' objection.

Thoreau read the Lotus sutra. I’m not sure if he could know much about Buddhism to put it into context, but that’s an amazing text, and he read it around 1842.

I was reading about Thoreau in Staten Island, not liking the city, thinking the best thing to do was to change the individual. I read, play chess online with people from all over the world on my phone, and talk to other parents while my daughter plays in the park. 

They ask me what I'm reading. The woman from Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat India, used to hang out in mulberry tries and eat the berries like I did as a kid in Wisconsin. Her son is a grade younger, and most of the Gujarat women don't talk to me, but she will talk to me for a little bit. 

I talked a lot to the son of an Iranian ambassador for the Shah, who played in a punk band that opened for the Ramones and Iggy Pop. Such fascinating lives people lead. The Gujarati woman will have to study for her exam to become American and India has a strong democratic tradition, she will be interested in New York elections. I complained that nobody could name anyone running for mayor. My Ukrainian friend says that people from eastern Europe don't like politics and don't read English very well, so they're unlikely to be into politics. I was excited because they were going to ranked choice, you voted for 5 people, and so I read up on the 8 main candidates I could vote for. They man who won wasn't in my top 5, that's how closely I think people think about politics. Anyway, I got to give a bit of an outline as to who Thoreau was, and why he was important in America. I told them that Thoreau read as much as he could from the eastern traditions, casting a wide net. I'm not sure he distinguished between Hinduism and Buddhism, or between Mahayana and Hinayana. Never mind, he probably read deeper by translating the languages. 

Lit Hub has an article on Thoreau's humor. It's excerpted from Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living by John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle. There are so many books on Thoreau. He's really quite a magnet for thinkers. And that is wonderful.