Behind the bylines

Summer 2013 issue: Behind the bylines

In putting together this issue, the theme of connections came into focus in so many ways — connections among people and communities, connections among artists engaging in a common medium, connections between farmers and the rugged terrain of Southern Vermont.

“A sense of place is vital to community, say the founders of the West River Community Project in West Townshend,” reports Thelma O’Brien , a former resident of that community who writes about the creation of the West Townshend Country Store and post office in a once-burned-out old building. Learn about this effort on page 9.

Katherine Cox , a regular contributor to these pages, found connections of the two young farmers at Big Picture Farm to a delicious specialty food product. “It’s no wonder the silky caramels made at Big Picture Farm won the Oscars of the specialty food industry last June,” she writes. Her report on these goats’ milk candies appears on page 42.

Allison Teague, a freelance writer and reporter, writes about three people who make it their life’s work to build connections in nurturing the arts, in a series of three stories that starts on page 20. “It never fails to absolutely floor me to discover the depth of authentic engagement and expression in these extraordinary yet humble individuals who quietly exist amidst our verdant hills and valley floors,” she writes.

Joyce Marcel, a regular contributor who has a passion for chronicling the business of the arts, “fell in love with glass while writing this story,” she writes. Her glimpse into this important arts sector begins on page 28.

And for Arlene Distler , another regular contributor, writing about the upcoming Red Grooms show (New & Notable, page 4) cultivated a connection to her days in New York City in the late 1960s, where she once met the acclaimed modern artist and his then-wife, Mimi Gross. “Tall, unruly red hair and a boyish face had the females among us aflutter,” recalls Distler, who also profiles artists Pat Musick and Jerry Carr beginning on page 25.