Gay Wilson Allen talks about his 1981 biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson, with commentary on the impact of Emerson’s thinking in nineteenth-century America and among his contemporaries. Allen compares Emerson’s language to that of his literary peers Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, among others; he reviews Emerson’s personal life, financial debts, reputation, and views on religion. Lewis Leary joins the conversation at [11:30], and the discussion turns to the rewards and challenges involved in writing biographies and attempts to define an author’s character by his or her writings.
In the second segment [23:45], John Opie comments on the cultural and qualitative dimensions of the energy issue facing America in 1982. He speaks about how American ideas about quality of life are tied to a perceived abundance of food, resources, and opportunity that may be finite.
At the time of this interview, Allen was professor of English at New York University and a visitor at the National Humanities Center. Leary was professor emeritus of English at Columbia University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Opie, a Fellow at the Center (1980-81), was professor of environmental history at Duquesne University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
