Archive

Besides his books, Bill has written a variety of poems, short stories, opinion pieces, and more.

Categories

The New Narcissism

Vermont and America have always been inspired and governed by a political spectrum spanning conservative and liberal values. Party names have changed — Whigs, Bull Moose, Tea Party – and...
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Wealth Mythology

Governor Shumlin appears to be crafting a legacy like most of his Republican and Democratic predecessors that is at once socially progressive and fiscally responsible. But his credibility falters though...
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Coming of Age

I’m sitting in a dentist chair recovering from my latest oral sandblasting when the dentist pops in for his mandatory “dental consult” – a “drop-in with remarks,” as my grandmother...
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When reverence for our past blinds us to our future….

I love Vermont. I’ve lived here seventy years, and like my father, I’ve turned down opportunities to move away and earn more money. But I don’t trust the Vermont myth...
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On suicide, and what it tells us about our social and economic policies

Society is ill-served by our narrow definition of suicide. Suicide is more widespread than our definition would like to admit – “the act of an instance of taking one’s own...
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Who Will Save Us from Ourselves?

As humans, we’re living in a time when our evolutionary capacity as humans to understand, regulate, and use technological innovation in a way beneficial to mankind and our planetary home...
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The Comforts of a Mediocre Education

It’s no secret that many colleges and prep schools are in financial trouble. Accrediting organizations predict a significant number of institutional failures in the next decade. We even feel the...
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Ourselves, our children

At seventy-two, I often hear myself say, “Well, when I was young…” followed by some judgment about the behavior of today’s kids. I seem to remember my parent’s expectations of...
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A Tolerant Future?

We look at a stranger and subconsciously register gender, race and perhaps class markers. These reflexive cognitive observations reveal nothing about the person yet often carry heavy judgmental baggage. In...
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The Thin White Line

In the early-mid-19th century the British East India Trading Company maintained large poppy farms and opium factories in India to supply their growing market in China. When the Chinese defended...
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Pay Attention

It’s a New Year. Daylight’s lasting longer, though our perception is mostly mathematical. We have a sprinkling of snow if not much sun, and I’m ready for a new year....
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Pornography or Eroticism?

When I was young and in search of the facts of life, there was no discernible pornography. The closest we ever got was a book we found hidden in our parents’ bedroom called...
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