October 13, 2015
Dr. James Mathew And Henry David Thoreau – Special Presentation
For most of us, our knowledge of the philosopher and poet Henry David Thoreau begins and ends with his
meditation “Walden.” But that’s not true of CSM cardiologist Dr. James Mathew.
Growing up in India, Dr. Mathew remembers reading quotes in the local Sunday newspaper. “I remember
Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson being the most often quoted American writers,” he says.
When Dr. Mathew moved to the United States, a friend lent him a copy of “Walden.”
“That was 30 years ago, and I’m still reading ‘Walden,’” he says.
Over the years, Dr. Mathew acquired a sizable collection of Thoreau's writings, from correspondences to
essays to lectures. When Dr. Mathew decided he would like to share some of the Thoreau artifacts with a
wider circle, he contacted the Milwaukee Public Library. They encouraged him to do a program, but Dr.
Mathew had bigger ideas. He wanted to do a live performance.
Dr. Mathew wrote the narrative and wove in Thoreau’s writings along with correspondences from people who
knew Thoreau during his life. He also focused on the eulogy delivered by Ralph Waldo Emerson at Thoreau’s
funeral.
“When I designed this, I thought someone has to give background information about Thoreau, which will elicit
a curiosity of the audience to read more about him,” Dr. Mathew says. “His eulogy was published in the
Atlantic Monthly and gave a very good picture of Thoreau as a poet, philosopher, naturalist, environmentalist
and social reformer. I wanted to present his human side, so I balanced the two.”
Dr. Mathew says his greatest challenge was to pull bits from Thoreau’s journals and essays to give the
audience a flavor of his style, without making the performance too long.
“For example, each of his essays would probably take two to three hours to read. So condensing it to three to
four minutes was the most difficult task,” he says. “I didn’t want to lose the message but I also didn’t want to
bore or exhaust the patience of the audience. So that’s what took the longest amount of time.”
All CSM associates, their friends and family are invited for a special presentation of the video, “The Life and
Legacy of Henry David Thoreau,” written, produced and directed by Dr. Mathew. The showing will take place
on Tuesday, October 20, at 7:15 a.m., at Water Tower Medical Commons, first floor conference room.