In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau. An essayist and poet, Thoreau lived a provocative life in which he endeavored to escape the limitations of human society by exploring the wider, wilder natural world. He was a naturalist, land surveyor, pencil maker, abolitionist, and student of Indigenous American culture and artifacts whose varied experiences informed his writing.
His most famous work, 1854’s Walden, describes his attempt to live out the Transcendentalist philosophy in a cabin in the woods, trying to, “live deep and suck out the marrow of life.” Thoreau’s writing inspires respect for the wilderness and personal conscience rather than yielding to society’s expectations, notably influencing activists Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
For this episode, we are joined by scholar Richard Higgins, author of the recent book Thoreau’s God. As well as writer and professor Tom Montgomery Fate, whose work engages with many of the same themes as Thoreau. You can find their full bios below. You can also see Fate at our 2026 American Writers Festival on June 7. The Festival is a biennial free literary event hosted by us and Chicago Public Library. Fate will join other Chicago area writers for a a panel discussion on The Spiritual Essence of Storytelling.
This episode is presented in conjunction with our special exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture, a powerful exhibit and programming initiative that takes you on the ultimate exploration through spirituality and storytelling. American Prophets is on display now at the American Writers Museum.
Rich and Tom are interviewed by Nate King, Content & Exhibits Manager at the American Writers Museum. This conversation originally took place May 7, 2026 and was recorded over Zoom.
More about Thoreau’s God:
Henry David Thoreau’s spiritual life is a riddle. Thoreau’s passionate critique of formal religion is matched only by his rapturous descriptions of encounters with the divine in nature. He fled the church only to pursue a deeper communion with a presence he felt at the heart of the universe. He called this illimitable presence many names, but he often called it God.
In Thoreau’s God, Richard Higgins invites seekers—religious or otherwise—to walk with the great Transcendentalist through a series of meditations on his spiritual life. Thoreau offers us no creed, but his writings encourage reflection on how to live, what to notice, and what to love. Though his quest was deeply personal, Thoreau devoted his life to communicating his experience of an infinite, wild, life-giving God. By recovering this vital thread in Thoreau’s life and work, Thoreau’s God opens the door to a new understanding of an original voice in American religion that speaks to spiritual seekers today.
About our guests:
RICHARD HIGGINS is a writer, a research associate at Harvard Divinity School and the author or editor of five books, including Thoreau’s God, about Thoreau’s iconoclastic religious quest, and Thoreau and the Language of Trees, about his multifaceted love of trees. A Boston Globe staff writer for 20 years, Richard is a graduate of Holy Cross College, Columbia Journalism School, and Harvard Divinity School. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Century, American Scholar, and other publications.
TOM MONTGOMERY FATE is a professor emeritus at College DuPage in Glen Ellyn IL, where he taught creative writing and literature courses for more than 30 years. He is the author of six books of creative nonfiction, including The Long Way Home: Detours and Discoveries, a travel memoir (Ice Cube Press, 2022), Cabin Fever, a nature memoir (Beacon Press), and Steady and Trembling, a spiritual memoir (Chalice Press). A regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune, his essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, Orion, The Iowa Review, Christian Century, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, and many others. Dozens of his essays have also aired on NPR and Chicago Public Radio.