About Bill Schubart

Bill Schubart has lived with his family in Vermont since 1947. He writes about Vermont in fiction, humor, and opinion pieces.

His father, a naval officer serving in the Philippines, died in Leyte Gulf late in 1944. His son was born in New York City four months later. Bill's widowed mother then moved with her young son to Vermont in 1947 where she later remarried Emile Couture and had two more children. Schubart was educated in Morrisville Public Schools, then Phillips Exeter, Kenyon College, and the University of Vermont. His great uncle was the renowned photographer and champion of impressionist art, Alfred Stieglitz. Schubart is fluent in French language and culture which he taught before entering communications as an entrepreneur. He writes and speaks extensively on the media and other civic issues. He has spoken at numerous industry and media events including Book Expo. He has been a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio and now writes a biweekly column for VTDigger.org.

After college, he co-founded Philo Records and Resolution with his half-brother, Michael Couture. He has been active in various cultural, civic, and business organizations throughout his lifetime in Vermont. He has four children and lives and writes in Hinesburg with his wife Kate, a journalist.

Schubart’s interests include poetry, photography, stone gardening, cooking and eating, classical and primitive music. He lives in Hinesburg, Vermont near his sons Bill and Steven and a daughter Anna, as well as a stepson Guy and a stepdaughter Phoebe who live in London and Brooklyn.

A humanist’s and educator’s knowledge of how people, technologies, cultures, and markets behave in the face of innovation. He is not a futurist or guru, but an observer and commentator.

Accomplishments 

At the age of 26 Schubart was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Vermont Arts Council, the State’s arts agency – the youngest trustee ever to serve as Chairman – and then served again at age 41. At 30, he joined the Board of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. In 1984, he became Chairman of the Vermont Folklife Center. At the request of then-Governor Madeleine Kunin, Schubart chaired the Vermont Statehood Bicentennial Commission, planning the celebration for Vermont’s 200th birthday in 1991.

Schubart has chaired the Arts Council’s Media Panel, Literature Panel and Visual Arts Panel and has served as a resource panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition, he has advised many non-profit and educational organizations on a variety of cultural and technical projects including the formation of Vermont Public Radio, on whose board he recently served as Chair. Additionally, he has taught courses at the University of Vermont in music, technology and business.

Schubart is a founder and past chairman of the American Video Duplication Association, has served on the Governor’s Telecommunications Task Force. He has been a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy Awards) and The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) He is past Chair of the Vermont Business Roundtable where he also chaired the Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force. He recently completed a three year term as Chair of Fletcher Allen Health Care, a 500-bed academic medical center.

Chairmanships

Vermont College of Fine Arts 
Vermont Folklife Center (twice)
Vermont Journalism Trust dba VTDigger.org
Vermont Arts Council (twice)
Vermont Board of Libraries
Vermont Bicentennial Commission
Circus Smirkus
Vermont Business Roundtable
Vermont Public Radio
American Video Duplication Association – industry trade group
Hinesburg Saputo Redevelopment Taskforce (co-chair)
UVM Medical Center, a 450-bed academic medical center
Resolution, Inc. (co-founder, CEO and Chair)

The Shelburne Museum
VT Symphony Orchestra
VT Community Foundation
ACLU – Vermont Chapter
VT Judiciary: Professional Responsibility Board
Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission 2009-2010 Recommendations for Amending Vermont’s Tax Code
Farm-to-Plate Commission 2009 – 2010 A Strategic Plan for VT Agriculture
Snelling Center Study Commission on Exec., Leg., and Judiciary Compensation 2003

Directorships

Civic Awards

2018 Ind. Book Publishers Assoc. Popular Fiction Finalist: Lila & Theron
2014 Ind. Book Publishers Assoc. New England Literary Fiction Finalist: I Am Baybie
2009 Patricia S. Walton Award for Public Service from the Amer. Soc. for Public Admin.
2008 Honorary Doctor of Commerce Degree from Champlain College
2007 Modern Healthcare Magazine Trustee of the Year – National
2004 Lake Champlain Chamber – Community Excellence Award
2004 Ralph Nading Hill Literary Award – short story
1989 Vermont Arts Council Citation for Advocacy & Support for the Arts
1982 Vermont Arts Council Merit Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts in Vermont

A Founder

  • In 1972, Bill and his brother Michael Couture co-founded Earth Audio, a multitrack recording studio, and Philo Records, an independent record label that produced international artists in the folk and classical field, now part of the Concord Music Group. He also founded the Pleiades Music Group, a music publishing company.

  • Co-founded and shaped Resolution, the media industry’s premier e-commerce service partner whose many clients included A&E, The Golf Channel, IFC, Bloomberg, AMC, Oprah Winfrey, CBS 60-Minutes, Sesame Workshop, NPR, National Geographic, Discovery, The NY Times, Prairie Home Companion, WGBH, WNET, The History Channel, The Nature Conservancy, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, The Criterion Collection and many other broadcasters and publishers.

  • Founded the Shelburne Conference, a colloquium of 25 rotating industry leaders who gathered in the fall to discuss key strategic shifts at the intersection of content, intellectual property management, publishing, broadcasting, technology, and consumer behavior.

  • Co-founded with his wife Kate and other journalists the Vermont Journalism Trust whose mission was to generate philanthropy to support investigative journalism in Vermont. V.J.T. later merged with and became part of VTDigger.org which Schubart then chaired for a term. Kate is a contributing journalist.

  • Co-founded with Vermont authors and publishers the Vermont Authors Project, a network of Vermont authors, bookstores, libraries, book clubs, literary festivals, and the VT Dept. of Tourism and Marketing, designed to enhance discovery and sales of Vermont authors’ works.