THE WRITING OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU is as full of life today as it was when he published Walden one hundred years ago. In seeking to understand nature, Thoreau sought to "lead a fresh, simple life with God." In 1848 a seeker named Harrison Blake, yearning for a spiritual life of his own, asked the then-fledgling writer for guidance. The fifty letters that ensued, collected here for the first time in their own volume by Thoreau specialist Bradley P. Dean, are by turns earnest, oracular, witty, playful, practical? and deeply insightful and inspiring, as one would expect from America's best prose stylist and great moral philosopher.

"With quotable lines on every page, this is an important and affecting addition to the Thoreau shelf."
--Booklist

"I open this book at random and find daily strength in Thoreau's words that gives me courage. . . . This is a book I keep on my desk as a record of shared faith."
--Terry Tempest Williams, author of Leap and The Open Space of Democracy