The Death Issue
Dissecting Donated Bodies Provides Lessons Beyond Anatomy; Vermonters Share Their Near-Death Experiences; A Standup Comic Riffs on Grief and Comedy; The Hallowell Hospice Choir Comforts the Terminally Ill With Music
Obituary: Elinor Morency, 1939-2022
Retired artist and art educator was a member of the painting group, the Monet Mamas
Obituary: Claire L’Ecuyer, 1927-2022
95-year-old Winooski woman was a favorite relative to many
Obituary: Laurel Hammond, 1950-2022
Vermont teacher and guidance counselor had a taste for fine art, gluten-free food, down jackets and the warm company of others
Obituary: Florence Miles, 1922-2022
100-year-old Huntington woman lived humbly on her farm, where she loved her bees, maple trees and cows
As Fewer People Choose Burial, Vermont’s Cemeteries Struggle to Maintain Their Grounds
Debbie Baker never expected to run a cemetery. For most of her life, she didn’t think much about cemeteries at all. But after she was…
Free Will Astrology (10/26/22)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I guess it would be difficult to create a practical snake costume for Halloween. How would you move around? You’d have…
Meat Loaf and His Doppelgänger Return in Allan Nicholls’ Lost Movie ‘Dead Ringer’
Allan Nicholls can still clearly recall when one of his friends and collaborators, the rock star Meat Loaf, asked him to direct “some music videos.”…
Essay: A Standup Comic Riffs on Grief and Comedy
People talk to me about death a lot. After they see my standup act, they feel very free to walk up to me and say…
The Hallowell Hospice Choir Comforts the Terminally Ill With Music
On a brisk October morning, nine members of the Hallowell hospice choir convened outside Valley Cares, a small rural nursing home in Townshend. The singers,…
Vermonters Share Their Near-Death Experiences
Some years ago, a 25-year-old technical writer named Jack was hospitalized with severe pneumonia that caused him episodes of respiratory arrest. Despite treatment with constant…
Life Stories: Willem Jewett ‘Was a Real Doer’
In the days before Willem Jewett (August 23, 1963-January 12, 2022 ) died last winter, he was too sick to eat more than a few…
In Orange County, a Conservative Culture Warrior Vies for Sen. MacDonald’s Democratic Seat
A month before Election Day, the two candidates for a Vermont Senate seat representing Orange County squared off in a candidate forum in Vershire. Democratic…
Soundbites: Halloween Happenings and Playlist Musts
You know, the older I get, the less I enjoy Glenn Danzig. He routinely mouths off about things that make me cringe — like the…
Burlington’s Battery Street Jeans a Lifeline for Those Who Need Free Clothes
Every week at Burlington thrift shop Battery Street Jeans, owner Stu Sporko gives away more than 1,000 articles of clothing. The items are placed outside…
Cosmic the Cowboy, ‘Modern Country’
(Self-released, cassette, digital) It’s estimated that the first radio signals transmitted from Earth have traveled roughly 100 light-years deep into the Milky Way by now….
Teens Face Death With Stories in Mike Flanagan’s Fun but Ungainly New Series ‘The Midnight Club’
Decades ago, a best-selling writer named Christopher Pike heard from a young fan who was in a cancer ward. She and her fellow patients met…
NNAMDÏ, ‘Please Have a Seat’
(Secretly Canadian, CD, vinyl, digital) Listening to Please Have a Seat, the latest LP from Chicago’s NNAMDÏ, is akin to watching a mad scientist work….
‘Artists in the Archives’ at the Henry Sheldon Museum Collages History
The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury touts its unique status as “the oldest community-based museum in the country.” Owing to its location…
Composer Matthew Evan Taylor Honors His Grandmother’s Memory in a VSO Premiere
Middlebury composer Matthew Evan Taylor’s grandmother, Earnestine Colvin Taylor, had many talents. For instance, she sang while accompanying herself on a spinet piano, both in…
We’re All Gonna Die Someday: Laying the Death Issue to Rest
One of my favorite Twitter accounts is Daily Death Reminder (@death_reminder). Every day, it pops up in my feed with the same dispassionate message: “You…
I Wound Up With My Uncle’s Ashes Because No One Else Wanted Them
Dear Reverend, My uncle passed away four years ago. He had no spouse or children, and he wasn’t much liked by any of his other…
Vermont Poets Share Verses About Death
One of the enduring assumptions about poets is that we are morose, morbid beings, preoccupied with death and bongos. I’ll concede that we occasionally betray…
From the Publisher: Deadline Foliage
Autumn in Vermont is short-lived. Rain, wind and nighttime temps all affect its intensity and duration. No matter how breathtaking it is, the seasonal blaze…
Med School Students Say Dissecting Donated Bodies Provides Lessons Beyond Anatomy
Tom Lever was a thoroughgoingly practical man, according to his wife of 40 years, Theresa. In the car on the way to an appointment with…
A Bleak Prognosis: Mark Eliot Schwabe’s Climate Crisis Sculptures
The Halloween-inspired exhibit “Dark Matter” is a popular one for Burlington’s S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, evident in the attendance and the huge number of artworks submitted. The…
Letters to the Editor (10/26/22)
Antiquated Image I was reading “Building a Workforce” [October 12] when I noted the images on the cover of your magazine. What stood out for…
The Next Generation of Morticians Is Mostly Young, Female and ‘Called’ to the Profession
Assistant funeral director Rachel Currier usually meets her clients for the first time right after a family member or friend has died, so she gets…
Youths Get Hands-On Experience With Death at Shelburne’s New Village Farm
Chicken slaughter features vividly among Michaela Ryan’s earliest memories. The founder-owner of New Village Farm in Shelburne grew up on a farm in southern Québec….
U.S. Coffee Championships Preliminary Competition Comes to Vermont
Coffee pros from around the country converge on Chittenden County this weekend to test their tasting, barista and latte art skills in the first stage…
Vermont History Museum in Montpelier Hosts Common Cracker Exhibit
Even the most fervent fans of the historic Vermont common cracker tend not to zealously defend its deliciousness. The round, puffy, white crackers are about…
Jr’s Original in Winooski Brings Back Its Italian Menu
After three months of offering Cantonese-style dishes as Jr’s Original Peking Duck House, Bogdan Andreescu’s Winooski restaurant has returned to its Italian roots and old…
Snow Sports-Themed Lounge and Bar Coming to Burlington
J Levinthal, 50, has been a trailblazer in ski design since he started LINE Skis in 1995. He founded the online ski company J Skis…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, October 26-November 1
Halloween is less than a week away, and there’s no shortage of ways for Vermonters to connect, learn and have a good time. We’ve compiled seven must-do events, including Spooky Night at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, a Halloween party tailor-made to history buffs.
