Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard

by Jessica K. Whitehead

Few individuals have lived such quiet and unassuming lives only to find their way into historical memory quite like writer and artist Harlan Hubbard (1900-1988). While some know of the Kentuckian's sojourn with his wife, Anna, and their determination to living outside the mainstream in a shantyboat on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, few know of his artistry with watercolors or that his simple-life mentality did not evolve until he was in his late thirties. Much like his revered predecessor Henry David Thoreau, Hubbard retreated into the wilderness to live a life of simplicity, sustainability, and purpose.

In this comprehensive biography, Jessica Whitehead reveals the importance of Hubbard's place in American history and the impact of his legacy on modern environmentalist and sustainability movements. Driftwood delves into Hubbard's family genealogy and relationships, his education and creative development, and his theories on art, literature, and philosophy. Using journals, an unpublished manuscript, and other primary sources, Whitehead pieces together the various stages of Hubbard's early life, from his education to his relationships with his parents and brother, and how they helped shape the mentality that Hubbard is so well-known for today. Before Hubbard chose a life beyond capitalism and modern technology, he struggled deeply with his identity and lifestyle. By examining Hubbard's perspective of American culture through literature and art, Whitehead helps draw the line between the person sitting on the riverbank grappling with his purpose to the man floating down the Ohio pursuing a life of sacrifice and intentionality.

Going beyond Wendell Berry's nearly thirty-year-old biography, Whitehead expands upon Hubbard's personal life and casts a wider cultural net to associate Hubbard with other iconic American thinkers and artists. Presented is a vivid and legible portrait of the man and traces he left behind—books, journals, watercolor sketches, a handcrafted and rustic homestead in Trimble County at Payne Hollow, and a template for a sustainable, simple life.

408 pages, Hardcover

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[Rebecca Frodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough examination of Harlan Hubbard’s life. Even if you’ve read his writings or the writings of others about him, there has always still been a sense of not really knowing the whole story. That is changed with this book. No where else can you stare so deeply into Harlan’s soul and understand the work of his life.

Favorite Harlan quotes from the book:

“I need a flood in my soul, to carry the old drift and the flimsy habits that have extended down to the water’s edge. It will come, causing suffering and loss. If it does not come, the river will become stagnant, filed with growth and mud.”

“Beneath the snow and frost of winter
The seeds and roots, asleep, wait for warm spring
So also my old aspirations
Buried now by the world
I have faith that they will not die.”

“The importance of worldly success, the struggle for ever higher standards of living, the ideas of progress and increasing bigness, of man’s dominion over nature, once as unquestioned as the Bible - all are becoming suspect now that the environmental disaster brought about by a rash and selfish application of technology is realized …. It is the rich who waste the earth.”

“Often I was raised to a pitch of ecstasy by the garment of perfect beauty that clothed the earth. I longed to enter it, unworthy as I knew myself to be.”

“Food that you have grown yourself, or that has some adventure or story connected with the procuring of it, has a spice and flavor that merely purchased food can never have.”

“There is but one great man. That is he who makes a masterpiece of his life. No accomplishment can offset bad living.”

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read about Harlan Hubbard- his life, writing, art, & life. I had never heard of him until I met the author at the Louisville Book Festival. His works on sustainability were interesting & his part in Kentucky history. The only problem I had with the book is I felt it read like a college thesis.

[Paul Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable biography of a remarkable Kentuckian

[Paul F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting man and his accomplishments.