John Burroughs

John Burroughs (1837–1921) was one of America’s most widely read nature essayists, a founding figure of literary nature writing whose books blended close observation with a frankly pantheist philosophy that leaned toward religious skepticism. He was also a celebrated companion of the industrial age: he took long camping trips with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone — the group the press dubbed the “Vagabonds” — which is very likely how one of his lines came to be pinned on Edison.