Vermont . . . Who Knew?: Quirky Characters, Unsung Heroes, Wholesome, Offbeat Stuff

by Robert F Wilson

Overview

Vermont. . . Who Knew? is a nonfiction travel book, including both serious and humorous content. It comprises nine chapters—one with a state-wide focus and eight regional chapters. The result: 125 or so profiles, essays, and anecdotes encompassing the most unique people, places, and events—both past and present—the Green Mountain State has to offer. The product is a perfect-bound, 6.14” x 9.21”, 256-page book (~65, 000 words), in color and including 75 photos and nine full-page chapter-opener maps. The Foreword was written by U. S. Senator Bernie Sanders. Wilson McLeran, Inc. is the publisher.

One unique feature: Roughly 70 percent of the entries are followed by references to one or more short YouTube videos, providing additional—and often dramatic—sight-and-sound coverage based on the topics immediately preceding. No URLs are necessary. Videos are accessed with a single click after the three- or four-word citation title is entered into the YouTube search box. Pairing the book’s words with a PC or mobile device, then, transforms Vermont. . . Who Knew? from merely a good read to an unforgettable multimedia experience!

Another feature: For families with time constraints of one kind or another, a single back-of-the-book appendix serves as a two-dimensional global positioning system. Locations for many of the book's entries are on four well-traveled Vermont roads (two east-west and two north-south)—all within ten miles of any one of the highways. Based on preferences, this offers an opportunity to easily organize one- or two-day itineraries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780943837031
Publisher:	Wilson McLeran, Inc.
Publication date:	12/30/2018
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	627,835
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Author of 14 books; producer and scriptwriter of two educational videos. Editorial and management background with McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, Time Inc., and Scholastic. Graduate of University of Illinois, with additional coursework at NYU, Columbia, University of Chicago and Fairfield University. Member of Authors Guild, American Society of Journalists & Authors, and LinkedIn.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments .................................vi

Foreword by U. S. Senator Bernie Sanders ..............viii

Preface ..........................................x

Prologue ........................................xii

Chapter 1: Statewide ................................1

Chapter 2: Southeast ...............................25

Chapter 3: Southwest ..............................65

Chapter 4: East Central .............................83

Chapter 5: West Central ...........................115

Chapter 6: North Central ..........................135

Chapter 7: Lower Champlain Valley ..................163

Chapter 8: Northeast Kingdom ......................177

Chapter 9: Upper Champlain Valley ..................201

Bibliography ....................................229

Appendix ......................................231

Index .........................................236

About the Author ................................241

About the Cartographer and Photo Editor ..............241

About the Photographer ...........................241

Editorial Reviews

Appreciation of “Vermont…Who Knew?”

Robert Wilson’s Vermont…Who Knew? is a quirky guide to some of the usual and many of the unusual attractions, history, and characters that make Vermont what it is today. Think of the book as offering an idiosyncratic tour of Vermont with a chatty, indefatigable guide who has learned a lot about Vermont and is willing to learn more. The book is organized south-to-north, by region, and after a few statewide entries , including Vermont’s short history as an independent republic (“Vermont was born original,” Wilson declares.) — we join the author as he roams through most of the state, selecting unusual events, museums, and individuals to profile, or at least mention. In southeastern Vermont, for example, he presents the familiar story of Rudyard Kipling’s troubled years in Vermont — and a profile of a decidedly unfamiliar Vermonter — Darrell Ward, inventor of the bedpan banjo. Wilson’s choices of items to feature are completely his own, often charming, and sometimes perplexing. He mentions the Hubbardton Battlefield, but skips any mention of the Bennington Battle Monument —possibly because the towering stone obelisk commemorates a battle that actually took place a few miles away in Hoosick Falls, New York. There’s a mention of the wonderful Calvin Coolidge Homestead in the tiny village of Plymouth Notch, but not a word about the equally wonderful Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in nearby Woodstock. But guidebook inclusiveness is not the point of this author’s peregrinations. His entries are clearly people and places in Vermont that appealed to him, and several of his most appealing choices are individuals that the average tourist would miss. Sprinkled throughout the book are profiles of colorful local Vermonters. There’s Valari Freeborne, who runs an old-fashioned (“Headquarters for Men”) barbershop in Springfield, cartoonist Ed Koren in Brookfield, and Patrick Palmer’s horse-and-wagon trash service in Bristol, among others. It’s an interesting mix — historic sites and events, a wide variety of museums, personal interviews with local people, and a few plain old good stories. They combine to make this book as entertaining and oddball as the state it surveys. —Tom Slayton

From the Publisher