This is a biography of Wilson Alwyn Bentley, the farmer from Jericho, Vermont, who took over five thousand photomicrographs of ice, dew, frost, and -- especially -- snow crystals. Although his photographs were taken between 1885 and 1931, they have never been equalled and are in great demand today. Bentley's story is one of courage and persistence against tremendous odds. He taught himself how to photograph snow crystals through a microscope while...

Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont, is one of New England's most renowned graveyards. This 85-acre "open-air museum" is noted for the artistry and craftsmanship of its monuments, derived exclusively from legendary Barre gray granite. The cemetery attracts thousands of visitors every year, particularly when the foliage turns during fall. Barre was a boomtown with a rapidly rising population of European immigrants, especially those from Italy and Scotland,...

"Nestled between the Adirondacks of New York and Vermonts Green Mountains, Lake Champlain offers 120 miles of tranquil beauty with a rich, bustling history. Picturesque waterfront communities established in the 18th century recall the era when the Champlain Valleys natural resources, iron, lumber, granite, marble, and potash were shipped to distant ports on lake sloops and schooners. By the early 19th century, Lake Champlain was connected with the...

"Helen and Scott Nearing, authors of Living the Good Life and many other bestselling books, lived together for 53 years until Scott's death at age 100. Loving and Leaving the Good Life is Helen's testimonial to their life together and to what they stood for: self-sufficiency, generosity, social justice, and peace. In 1932, after deciding it would be better to be poor in the country than in the city, Helen and Scott moved from New York City to Vermont....

In speeches, essays, and book reviews, the novelist Katherine Paterson discusses why she writes children's books, where her ideas come from, how she develops her characters and realistic plots, and her experiences growing up in China.

Artist Stephen Huneck shares the story of his long illness and near-death experience which inspired him to build a chapel for dogs and their owners near his home in Vermont, and presents photographs of the chapel, as well as woodcut prints that celebrate the loving qualities of dogs.

"The hurricane that pummeled the northeastern United States on September 21, 1938, was New England's most damaging weather event ever. To call it "New England's Katrina" might be to understate its power. Without warning, the storm plowed into Long Island and New England, killing hundreds of people and destroying roads, bridges, dams, and buildings that stood in its path. Not yet spent, the hurricane then raced inland, maintaining high winds into Vermont...

In 1963, Noel Perrin, a 35-year-old professor of English at Dartmouth College, bought an 85-acre farm in Thetford Center, Vermont. For the next forty years he spent half his time teaching, half writing, and half farming. "That this adds up to three halves I am all too aware," he said, sounding a characteristic, self-deprecating note of bittersweet amusement at the chalk on his coat, the sweat on his brow, and the mud (and worse) on his boots. "I...

An autobiography describing her time as governess to a retired Austrian captain's seven motherless children, her marriage, and the Trapp family's tours in Europe and America.