Like Henry David Thoreau, he has felt a need to reestablish himself from the ground up by articulating the ecological, economic, and religious principles by which he would live, and by trying to live and write in accordance with those principles. He has striven to achieve a rigorous moral and aesthetic simplicity in his work by reworking the same basic themes and insights: the proper place of human life in the larger natural cycle of life, death, and renewal; the dignity of work, labor, and vocation; the central importance of marriage and family commitments; the articulation of the human and natural history of his native region; and precise, lyrical descriptions of the native flora and...