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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEntertainment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n
The Eagles co-founder talks Walden Woods, AI, Buddhism in nature, and why he founded the Walden Woods Project.<\/h2>\n\n\n\tDon Henley, an executive producer of the “Henry David Thoreau” documentary, speaks about the film to 600 people gathered at Concord Carlisle Regional High School on Monday, March 23. Richard Pasley<\/em>\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\nIn December of 1989, Don Henley was cooking dinner in his LA home with the kitchen TV tuned to celebrity.land.<\/p>\n
\u201cI overheard the words \u2018Walden Woods\u2019 and \u2018commercial development.\u2019\u00a0 So I walked over to the TV and stood in front of it. I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing,\u201d the Eagles lead singer\/co-founder tells me.<\/p>\n
There was planned development near Henry David Thoreau\u2019s old stomping grounds. He jotted down the names of locals protesting the development, and called the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018I saw you on TV yesterday, and I\u2019d like to help.\u2019 I don\u2019t think they had any idea who I was, which was fine. I started by sending a check,\u201d Henley, 78, tells me in our recent phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
Three months later, the musician flew from LA to Boston, and toured Walden Woods to see the planned development spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To preserve it, Henley founded The Walden Woods Projec<\/a>t.<\/p>\nSince 1990, the organization, based in Concord, has worked to preserve \u201cthe land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau,\u201d according to their website. The Project \u201cuses the land it has protected in Walden Woods to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility, both cornerstones of Thoreau\u2019s philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Coolidge-Event-Don-and-Ken_final-69c6c4c2ccc70-scaled.jpg\")
The Executive Producers of \u201cHenry David Thoreau\u201d \u2014 Ken Burns and Don Henley \u2014 at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, prior to speaking before a capacity audience. \u2013 Richard Pasley<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI first interviewed Henley almost a decade ago, for a short film he was producing with Ken Burns<\/a> for the Walden Woods Project, \u201cWalden<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\nThat short \u2014 directed by Burns proteges Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers \u2014 has sparked a full documentary: \u201cHenry David Thoreau<\/a>,\u201d executive produced by Burns and Henley, directed by the Ewers brothers, airs March 30 and 31 on PBS at 9 p.m.<\/p>\nIt boasts a talented cast: George Clooney narrates; Jeff Goldblum voices Thoreau; Ted Danson voices Ralph Waldo Emerson; Meryl Streep voices Lidian Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Mary Merrick Brooks, and Maria Thoreau; Tate Donovan voices William Ellery Channing.<\/p>\n
I blazed through all three episodes.<\/p>\n
It hits like a classic Burns documentary: Using hallmark voiceovers, the \u201cKen Burns effect,\u201d and interviews with modern thinkers \u2014 Douglas Brinkley<\/a>, Lois Brown, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, among them \u2014 to examine the life and work of the 19th-century transcendentalist and his circle of free-thinking pals.<\/p>\n\n
In December of 1989, Don Henley was cooking dinner in his LA home with the kitchen TV tuned to celebrity.land.<\/p>\n
\u201cI overheard the words \u2018Walden Woods\u2019 and \u2018commercial development.\u2019\u00a0 So I walked over to the TV and stood in front of it. I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing,\u201d the Eagles lead singer\/co-founder tells me.<\/p>\n
There was planned development near Henry David Thoreau\u2019s old stomping grounds. He jotted down the names of locals protesting the development, and called the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018I saw you on TV yesterday, and I\u2019d like to help.\u2019 I don\u2019t think they had any idea who I was, which was fine. I started by sending a check,\u201d Henley, 78, tells me in our recent phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
Three months later, the musician flew from LA to Boston, and toured Walden Woods to see the planned development spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To preserve it, Henley founded The Walden Woods Projec<\/a>t.<\/p>\n Since 1990, the organization, based in Concord, has worked to preserve \u201cthe land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau,\u201d according to their website. The Project \u201cuses the land it has protected in Walden Woods to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility, both cornerstones of Thoreau\u2019s philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n I first interviewed Henley almost a decade ago, for a short film he was producing with Ken Burns<\/a> for the Walden Woods Project, \u201cWalden<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n That short \u2014 directed by Burns proteges Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers \u2014 has sparked a full documentary: \u201cHenry David Thoreau<\/a>,\u201d executive produced by Burns and Henley, directed by the Ewers brothers, airs March 30 and 31 on PBS at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n It boasts a talented cast: George Clooney narrates; Jeff Goldblum voices Thoreau; Ted Danson voices Ralph Waldo Emerson; Meryl Streep voices Lidian Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Mary Merrick Brooks, and Maria Thoreau; Tate Donovan voices William Ellery Channing.<\/p>\n I blazed through all three episodes.<\/p>\n It hits like a classic Burns documentary: Using hallmark voiceovers, the \u201cKen Burns effect,\u201d and interviews with modern thinkers \u2014 Douglas Brinkley<\/a>, Lois Brown, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, among them \u2014 to examine the life and work of the 19th-century transcendentalist and his circle of free-thinking pals.<\/p>\n