Walt Whitman [videorecording] / PBS ; written and directed by Mark Zwonitzer ; produced and co-directed by Jamila Wignot ; producer, Patrick Long ; a Patrick Long Productions film in association with HiddenHill Productions for American experience.
Narrator, J.K. Simmons ; voice of Walt Whitman, Chris Cooper. Broadcast as an episode of the PBS television program American experience. Special feature: teacher's guide PDF.
Summary:
One of the most-recognized figures in American literary history: poet, patriot, and faithful advocate of democracy. But in his own time, critics denounced Walt Whitman as a "lunatic raving in pitiable delirium". This "American experience" production tells Whitman's life story, from his working class childhood in Long Island to his years as a newspaper reporter in Brooklyn when he struggled to support his impoverished family, then to his reckless pursuit of the attention and affection he craved for his work, to his death in 1892 at the age of 72.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.