Do you really need that expensive motorcycle to be wild and free?   Save money and join the Thoreau Society instead!
December 21, 2015

Note: If you are currently a member and recently renewed or are up to date
with your membership, please disregard this public notice.


Dear Adventure Seeker,

"Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures."

That's what our hero, Henry D. Thoreau wrote 161 years ago.  His wisdom is as relevant today as ever to couch potatoes seeking an alternative or to those already happily engaged in the great outdoors.  Or if you are an unrepentant couch potato, then "Be a Columbus," as Thoreau said, "to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought."

Join the Thoreau Society today so you can stay informed in 2016 as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Thoreau Society and plan for the Bicentennial of Thoreau's Birth, July 12, 2017!
Henry D Thoreau


If you have enjoyed visiting Walden Pond and took an interest in the writings of Henry D. Thoreau, you may benefit from membership in the Thoreau Society.

If you have had a long-term love affair with Thoreau's writings, then you will definitely benefit from membership in the Society, where you can connect with similarly minded individuals.

If you are interested in learning more about this seminal American author, poet, philosopher, ecologist, pencil-maker, surveyor, conservationist, cartographer, ethnologist, botanist, ornithologist, moralist, limnologist, geologist, reformer, flute player, ice skater, visionary, then the Thoreau Society is an excellent place to begin deepening your experience.

Did you know that this supposed hermit was a member of a Harvard fraternity, the Institute of 1777? 

That he served as two-term secretary of the Concord Lyceum, helping to educate the public on contemporary issues of concern? 

That he was a corresponding member of the Bos
ton Natural History Society, now the Boston Museum of Science? 

That he was a life-long lecturer and corresponded widely with his contemporaries?  Princeton University Press is currently working on publishing Thoreau's life-long correspondence in three volumes!  
 

With your membership in the Thoreau Socie
ty, you will exercise your wit and intelligence in getting to know the man who has influenced such diverse world-figures as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Leo Tolstoy, John Muir, Jane Goodall, and Steve Jobs.

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  
- Thoreau as quoted by Warren Buffett in a 2011 Berkshire Hathaway letter.

Thoreau has been seen by some as a self-pontificating, know-it-all, but for those who are drawn to his writings, they recognize something else.  Thoreau philosophy is practical, energizing and funny!

"How can he remember well his ignorance - which his growth requires - who has so often to use his knowledge?" 

"The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run."

"...in Wildness is the preservation of the world...."

"...beware of all enterprises that require new clothes...."

Your membership helps to ensure the continuation of The Thoreau Society's core activities, such as the development of The Thoreau Society Collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, the publication of The Thoreau Society Bulletin and Concord Saunterer:  A Journal of Thoreau Studies, and our Annual Gathering each July. 

Additionally, your membership commitment helps us to bring quality programming about Thoreau to the public through our work with the Concord Historical Collaborative, and our role as the Friends of Walden Pond in support of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  The Thoreau Society also holds sessions at the ALA, MLA, and ASLE each year.  You will help us educate the public on Thoreau's life, works, and legacy

Your membership includes
  • FREE Subscription to print version of The Thoreau Society Bulletin 
  • FREE Subscription to The Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies
  • 10% off at the Bookstore and eStore 
  • Member rate for Thoreau Society events, including the Annual Gathering (July 7-10, 2016) for the 75th Anniversary of the Thoreau Society. Elizabeth Witherell, Keynote speaker.
If you have read this far, then you are a reader!  You meet perfectly the basic criteria for membership, you enjoy reading and learning new things.

All the best, and

Sincerely yours,

Signature
Michael J. Frederick 
Executive Director

P.S. Have a happy holiday season and an adventurous new year!

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