Archive
Besides his books, Bill has written a variety of poems, short stories, opinion pieces, and more.
Vermont’s Sacred Cows
Just as Vermont farms are under threat from forces outside their control, so too are many of our sacred cows. Among them are post-employment benefits for teachers and state employees,...
When Elephants Grazed in Wolcott
It’s 1956 and we’re bouncing along route 15 in our ‘54 Ford wagon headed to Aunt Rose and Uncle Alcide’s farm in St Johnsbury for a late afternoon Thanksgiving feast....
Homeless Republicans
Vermont’s last Republican Century ended in 1962 when Phil Hoff became the first democratic governor in a blue dog’s age. The Republican Party then bore little or no resemblance to...
UVM, Food Systems and Vermont Farms
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College is the formal name of UVM. It has served Vermonters for two centuries and now faces difficult choices. The strategic ambiguity of...
Leyte Gulf 1944, excerpt
On a coral reef you lay to die and breathless lay there eye to eye With rippling morays where they hide in turbid currents deep inside of Leyte Gulf. Did...
Another Chance to Lead: Humane Slaughter
Bad incidents can teach us good things… if we’re willing to learn from them. We may believe that the horrific video of animal abuse shot undercover at the Bushway facility...
Change is Not Progress
Recently, I was having breakfast with a friend who has just returned from yet another country where he routinely explains to presidents and prime ministers how to establish telecommunications networks...
The Future of Vermont’s Working Landscape is Up to Us
I often write about how we, as a civilized society, need to keep striving towards equilibrium. As in many times in our history, we live in a highly polarized world...
“The Centre cannot hold…” Yeats
In these opening days of the new decade, I am haunted by Yeats’ ominous stanza in his poem The Second Coming: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed...
Government Accountability, Been There, Done That
If you go to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s website and click on “Reports” and type in the word “outcomes,” you’ll get a free copy of a report entitled “Reframing...
Snippet from “Fat People:” “Dear Diary,”
“Fatty, fatty, two by four, Couldn’t fit through the bathroom door, So she did it on the floor.” Dear Diary, Since Marty’s visit to the principal’s office, he no longer...
Our Schools, Ourselves
We are in a six-passenger compartment on the eight-hour train ride from Marrakesh to Fez. It is like a small ensemble theater company that will change characters as we move...
