Between the Lines
What's up for Vermont book lovers
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Published: June 28, 2009
Flood of information
The Connecticut River divides Vermont from New Hampshire, but it also unites them. That connectivity is a theme that runs through a comprehensive new atlas of the river's watershed in the two states, titled "Where the Great River Rises" and produced by the Connecticut River Joint Commissions.
The book's nearly 40 contributors examine everything from the geology, wildlife and weather of the region to its agricultural and industrial history, popular pastimes and cultural institutions. The 263 pages are packed with colorful maps, pie charts and graphs, as well as stunning photos of wildlife and historic images of weather disasters, log drives and more.
In fact, like Vermont and its neighbor to the east, the book represents a kind of yin and yang. It is at once detailed (dare we say wonky?) when it comes to the science - there's a chart titled "The Hierarchical Structure of the WBD." But it is also a fond celebration of the region's striking natural beauty and the dramatic human history that has played out here. Together, the different elements create what must certainly be the most complete reference work on the area.
The book boasts photos by professional wildlife tracker Sue Morse, an introduction by author W.D. Wetherell, and chapters by naturalist Ted Levin of Thetford Center, meteorologist Steve Maleski and many other experts.
Free books
A Vermont-based nonprofit is seeking to combat the "summer slide" - the dropoff in literacy skills that has been found to occur among children who don't read over the summer break.
The Children's Literacy Foundation in Waterbury Center will visit 20 different children's programs in communities across Vermont and New Hampshire this summer to provide storytelling and new books for children to take home. The program focuses on young readers who are at greatest risk, particularly low-income children.
Tuesday, the Summer Readers program is scheduled to stop at Brookside, Hill and Lazy B mobile home parks in Starksboro between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in collaboration with the Starksboro BookWagon. Future events are to be posted on the group's Web site, www.clifonline.org.
Emergency medicine
If you caught Howard Dean on "The Colbert Report" the other night, you also caught a glimpse of the handiwork of the Northshire Bookstore and its in-house book printing machine.
It seems that when Dean was booked to talk about "Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform," there weren't any finished copies of the book yet. Rather than leave Colbert empty-handed, the folks at Dean's publisher, Chelsea Green in White River Junction, reportedly turned to the Northshire and its Espresso Book Machine, a print-on-demand gizmo that quickly turned out a few copies from computer files.
In case you missed the former governor plugging his book, you can follow the link above to the clip.
Slam dunk
Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, the research and writing team from Middletown Springs, recently received a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for their nonfiction book "Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School - Basketball Champions of the World." It tells about a team of young American Indian players who defeated "all comers" at the 1904 World's Fair.
The awards are among the oldest in American literature, established in 1953. Former winners include Larry McMurtry for "Lonesome Dove" and Michael Blake for "Dances With Wolves."
Peavy and Smith's award and the winners in other categories were announced at the Western Writers of America annual convention June 16-20 in Oklahoma.
The reading light: spotlight on events
-- Bear Pond Books in Montpelier is taking a little field trip for a "meet the author" event Tuesday. Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber, residents of Barnard, will be up the street at Main Street Grill & Bar from 5 to 7 p.m. to talk about and sign copies of their new books "Libation" and "In Late Winter We Ate Pears." New England Culinary Institute, which operates the restaurant, will offer a sampling of its new Mediterranean menu along with a cash bar, and the store will have the couple's books for sale.
-- Poet Donald Hall will read his works Wednesday at
7 p.m. at South Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury as part of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum's "Readings in the Gallery" series.
Do you have a tip for Between the Lines? Send it to ruth.hare@timesargus.com.