A Walk in the Woods Allusions and Cultural References

When authors give shout outs to other great works, people, and events, it's usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Henry David Thoreau (1.4.3)
  • Graham Greene (1.10.26)
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (2.13.22)
  • Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (2.16.49)
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne (2.16.49)
  • Edith Wharton (2.16.49)

Historical References

  • John Muir (1.1.2)
  • Lewis and Clark (1.2.7, referenced throughout)
  • Benton MacKaye (1.3.1)
  • Myron Avery (1.3.4, referenced throughout)
  • Daniel Boone (1.4.4, referenced throughout)
  • William Bartram (1.6.3)
  • John Thomas Scopes (1.8.64)
  • Clarence Darrow (1.8.64)
  • Williams Jennings Bryan (1.8.64)
  • Earl V. Shaffer (1.9.1)
  • Stewart Udall (1.9.6)
  • Asher Brown Durand (1.10.1)
  • Thomas Jefferson (1.10.5)
  • Bill Gates (1.10.5)
  • John Bartram (1.10.6)
  • Pehr Kalm (1.10.7)
  • Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1.10.7)
  • AndrĂ© Michaux (1.10.7)
  • Thomas Nuttall (1.10.7)
  • Catherine the Great (1.10.11)
  • Bill Clinton (1.11.98)
  • Franklin Roosevelt (1.12.9)
  • John Browne (2.13.21)
  • Stonewall Jackson (2.13.22, referenced throughout)
  • John Wilkes Booth (2.13.22)
  • Robert E. Lee (2.13.37)
  • Edwin Drake (2.14.16)

Pop Culture References

  • Orson Welles (1.2.51)
  • Audrey Hepburn (1.3.34)
  • Spencer Tracy (1.3.34)
  • Don Knotts (1.4.2)
  • Norman Rockwell (1.4.66)
  • Deliverance (1.5.71, referenced throughout)
  • X-Files (1.6.58, referenced throughout)
  • Elvis Presley (1.8.11)
  • Dolly Parton (1.8.13)
  • Emma (Grandma" Gatewood (1.8.8)
  • Jimmy Stewart (1.11.2)
  • Deanna Durbin (1.11.2)
  • Bob Newhart (2.16.72)
  • Allen Partridge (2.16.73)
  • Bambi (2.20.3)
  • Wizard of Oz (2.20.3)