VERMONTERS: ORAL HISTORIES FROM DOWN COUNTRY TO THE NORTHEAST KINGDOM
[San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1986; Hanover, NH: University Press Of New England, 1998]
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"Strickland is a skillful writer whose introductory paragraphs lead the reader smoothly from one character to the next. Here are the logger and the auctioneer, the rural schoolteacher, the country doctor, the quilter, the beekeeper, the dairyman... and many others... These glimpses whet the appetite, tantalize the curiosity, for more" - Vermont Historical Society, Winter 1988. |
| Although conjuring up the traditional Vermont, this oral history also reminds us that it is on the way out, as many contributors are either newcomers at odds with the typical Vermonter or old-timers lamenting the passage of old ways. Strickland, author of River Pigs And Cayuses: Oral Histories From The Pacific Northwest , reveals change through his 38 subjects (there is a Socialist mayor in Burlington and a foreign-born woman governor), compassion for animals, and the independence of Vermonters. From adventurers to violinmakers, the author provides an introduction, then lets the people speak for themselves. Unfortunately, many of the more interesting subjects lack photos. A glossary explains folksy terms. Regional in interest. Roger W. Fromm, Library Journal |
| Strickland interviewed 39 Vermonters who talk about
themselves and the way things used to be (and in some parts of the state still
are). Agnes Deering, postmistress and poet of Guildhall, always has something
to say to her customers ("They pay my salary, don't they?"'), and her ode to
dandelions is included here. Wilma Farman of Lyndonville once taught in a
one-room schoolhouse and thinks children are better off learning in one room.
William Godfrey, an auctioneer from Ely whose auction style people could
understand, is considered by the author to be "the ideal portrait of a
Vermonter." Other subjects are loggers, storytellers, a doctor, a basketmaker
and the governor. The photographs are warm and funny. Perhaps the only flaw is
that Strickland is a "flatlander" (someone from out of state). But who else
except an outsider would dare think he could write about proud, independent
Vermonters?
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| "We think this book truly
captures the spirit of Vermont." Dr. J., Monthly Reviews, Country
Bookstore, March, 2000
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http://books.google.com/books?id=YR8SmAsM5KYC&pg=PA47&dq=Ron+Strickland&sig=UbE2dKKEFnFIjoDNJdDKU0aiAAE#PPP1,M1
[The Chronicle Books edition is out of print]
Vermont farmer to busybody Strickland: "Looks like you can't get there from here, Sonny."