Henry Thoreau is widely credited as being a pivotal figure in both the ecological and civil rights movements. As an young man, I was inspired by his words about "hearing a different drummer." The exact expression is from Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden' (1850): 'If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.' While this likeness is not perfect, it is a tribute to an extraordinary American mind.