Less Traveled By

Linda Burton posting from Concord, New Hampshire – Two men, born on different coasts, in different centuries. What do they have in common? Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) began life in San Francisco; Kenneth Lauren Burns (b 1953) in Brooklyn. But each chose New Hampshire as a place to live, and work, and grow; New Hampshire put its stamp on them. And from New Hampshire, they reflected the world back to us; interpreted in ways both simple and profound. Robert Frost was a poet; in his lifetime garnering more than forty honorary degrees, four Pulitzer Prizes, and one Congressional Medal of Honor. Critic Randall Jarrell said of him “no other poet has written so well about the actions of ordinary men.” Biographer Lawrance Thompson wrote that Frost’s poems are “charged with an intensity of cherishing.” And perhaps the greatest accolade is this – Frost’s poems are part of the curriculum in every class on American literature. How many young souls found their life purpose bolstered by the line “I took the road less traveled by”? Did filmmaker Ken Burns come across that line when he was a young student? I don’t know; but Burns has certainly lived his life and gone about his work in ways unlike any other. His documentary films have brought him (so far) twenty-five honorary degrees, twelve Emmy Awards, two Oscar nominations, and a Lifetime Achievement Award. From his first documentary in 1981 (Brooklyn Bridge), Burns’ films have mesmerized the public. David Zurawik wrote “Burns not only turned millions…onto history with his films, he showed us a new way of looking at our collective past.” Burns’ father-in-law said his work was “an attempt to make people long gone come back alive.” Besides New Hampshire, what else touched the lives of these men? I decided to dig a little deeper. » read more