The Winter Reading Issue 2015
Fiction by Castle Freeman Jr. and Erik Esckilsen; a South Pole New Year’s Eve by Leath Tonino; Brian Staveley’s Epic Fantasy
Obituary: Willem Ido Miel deGroot, 1928-2015, So. Burlington
Inventor, builder, surveyor, draftsman, architect, loving husband, father, grandfather, and loyal friend to many, passed away on Saturday, December 26th, 2015. Born in Malang, Indonesia,…
Short Story: The Ralston Snow-Blower Collective
Retired guy across the street, Buster McGrath, is a get-things-done sort of guy. I know this because sometimes, when his garage door is open, I…
Bellows Falls Residents Clash With Sheriff Over a Jail Proposal
It looked like a perfect solution. For decades, Bellows Falls has failed to fill the long-vacant Liberty Mill building with an enterprise that would contribute…
Feelin’ Berned: A Sanders Feud with the DNC
When South Burlington High School let out last Friday, 15-year-old Catie Michael headed to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Church Street headquarters to call New Hampshire…
All Aboard? A Road Project Could Displace Train Yard, Buildings
Perhaps the biggest concern about Burlington’s controversial Champlain Parkway project is that the new route will create more traffic on congestion-prone Pine Street between Lakeside…
Shap, Interrupted: The Once and (Maybe) Future Candidate
At a recent Burlington breakfast meeting, House Speaker Shap Smith leveled with members of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility: Don’t expect lawmakers to enact a…
A Full Life
“Do you know where we’re going today? There’s so much going on, I’ve plumb lost track.” My customer didn’t appear distressed in the least, just…
Short Story: Belinda Gets a Raise
On the Middle Road, just around the curve below Harts’, a scene. Accident? Three State Police cruisers, one pulled onto the shoulder, the others in…
Bandwagon Podcast Follows Bernie Sanders’ Fans
A public radio producer and recent Middlebury College grad is devoting the entire inaugural season of his new podcast series to following the presidential aspirations…
Art Review: ‘Bookbody,’ New City Galerie
In her essay “Almandal Grimoire: The Book as Magical Object,” Genese Grill writes, “A body, more than any other physical object except maybe a book,…
Soundbites: 2015 Music News in Review
2015 was a fascinating year in the local music scene. January through December was marked by major milestones, major controversies (both real and imagined) and,…
We Were Reunited in Love, and Then He Ditched Me
Dear Athena, I have known this guy for most of my life. We were friends as children, and as teenagers we loved each other. But…
![Rough Francis at Burlington Record Plant [SIV425]](https://sevendaysvt-test.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/episode425-1200x900.webp)
Rough Francis at Burlington Record Plant [SIV425]
12/3/15: Rough Francis plus Waylon Speed plus fresh vinyl. Drop the needle, this record is hot. Justin Crowther started pressing vinyl at Burlington Record Plant…
Fantasy Writer Brian Staveley’s Epic Success
Tales of dragons and wizard duels weren’t always cool. While fantasy fiction has long had its niche audience, Vermont author Brian Staveley says that right…
Kidding Around at Ollie’s Other Place
Until recently, if you were looking to buy kids’ toys in Middlebury, there were a few options, each with its own niche. T.J.Maxx and Ben…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It’s difficult to be objective about a movie that was painstakingly engineered to evoke one of the most powerful experiences of your childhood. I can’t…
Books: Sydney Lea’s Short Takes on a Long Life
“You get no credit for living” is an adage you may have heard bandied about in creative nonfiction classes. The tidy epigram encapsulates the lesson…
A Former Vermont Writer Finds Himself on the Web
Originally published January 29, 1997 About a year ago, I was hired away from my job at a national magazine to become the book editor…
Essay: New Year’s Eve at the Bottom of the World
New Year’s Eve is always a bright and shining celebration, whether we’re talking neon in New York’s Times Square or a lap on cross-country skis…
Jingle Jams: An All-Vermont Holiday Mixtape
As the old song goes, there’s no place like home for the holidays. And no matter how far away you go, there’s nothing like Vermont-made…
Vermont Authors: How I Got My Agent
If you’re an aspiring author, you may have heard that it’s almost impossible to get trade published without having “insider connections.” Available evidence suggests otherwise….
The Winter Reading Issue
The annual Winter Reading Issue is the only time of year Seven Days publishes fiction — in this case short stories by Vermont writers Castle…
Gneiss, Release EP
(Self-released, CD, digital download) In geological terms, gneiss is a high-grade metamorphic rock formed by the metamorphosis of granite or other sedimentary rock under high…
Little Slugger, Little Slugger
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Upon finishing the 40-ish minutes of Little Slugger’s self-titled debut album, one could be forgiven for assuming they had just listened…
Countryman Press Still Touts Vermont Heritage, in New York City
The Countryman Press, long known as “Vermont’s oldest name in publishing,” is now a small, rustic printing house in name only. In 1996, New York-based…
Letters to the Editor (12/23/15)
Hot Air In his article about a proposed wind development [“Irasburg Howls Over Wind Turbine Plan,” December 9], Seven Days reporter Mark Davis did not…
Leanne Ponder Revisits Old Poems Anew
Vermont storyteller Leanne Ponder described her newly published book of poems, Tonight Not Even My Skin, like this: “It was like I found poems by…
Free Will Astrology (12/23/15)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The coming year will be a favorable time for you to nourish a deeper devotion to truth, beauty and goodness. Anything…
Page 32: Short Stops in Seven Volumes
Seven Days’ writers can’t possibly read, much less review, the number of books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one…
A Bove’s Waitress Looks Back on Nearly 40 Years
As you may have heard, Bove’s Café in Burlington will serve its last supper on Wednesday, December 23, after 74 years (plus two weeks and…
Books: How a Thai Coffee Company Went Beyond Fair Trade
How fair is fair trade? In a state where economic and environmental ethics inform a deep-rooted “craft food” culture, it’s sensible that consumers might wonder…
Entrées, Exits and Dispelling Rumors
First, openings: In Jeffersonville, the Martell family will open Martell’s at the Red Fox in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The new…
