The Champlain Monster by nationally known cartoonist and author Jeff Danziger is a terrific book for all ages. Published by Green Writers Press in Brattleboro, The Champlain monster brings to life the classic tale of an oft-sighted large-scale monster living in the murky bottom of Lake Champlain.

Like Nessy of Loch Ness in Scotland and the stories I remember from summers on Lake Willoughby of massive eel-like creatures living in the depth of New England’s deepest glacial lake, the monster reportedly living in Champlain comes to the life through the eyes of a brother and sister living on its shore and an old ice fisherman they befriend. This is not a Disney tale. It is fraught with the realities that children experience in life and, as such, becomes a credible tale of adventure and compassion. Recommended for all ages and, of course, it has the haunting illustrations of Jeff Danziger.

Bill enjoying the crowd at the Vermont Authors’ Festival on Craftsbury Common Saturday August 17th. Wonderful crowd of avid readers and some 25 Vermont authors.

Every serious writer needs a cat. Here are some authors who felt strongly about their feline literary companions:

• Mark Twain. William Burroughs, Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Neil Gaiman, Ernest Hemingway, Patricia Highsmith, Yeats, Samuel Johnson, and Jack Kerouac.

Now, these writers are way above my pay grade but our new kitten Proust is aspirational and much loved in the household. The one exception is Bridget. If you look up “hissy-fit” in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Bridget.

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