lived for two years, two months and two days in a small cabin he built in woods owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. In "Walden," his account of that experience, published a few years later, he writes, "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 it came time to die, discover that I had not lived."

All of Thoreau's writings reveal a profound curiosity and breadth of spirit. This man, who marched to the beat of his own drum and had the inclination to share his observations on life and the natural world, has enriched us all. This founding father of the environmental movement leaves a legacy and legend that continues to grow. From all over the world, more than six hundred thousand people annually come to visit Walden Woods. Many refer to the trip as a pilgrimage. In reality, every stretch of woods is Walden, and everyone walks the path....andy levesque