The Read on ‘Legendary Locals of Burlington’

Fitting Burlington into a book is no easy task. The eccentricgamut of its residents included in Robert J. Resnik’s recently released Legendary Locals of Burlington leavesyou with a sense of just why that may be.

Forty years as a Burlington resident and 13 as a reference librarian at the Fletcher Free Library qualify Resnik for this job, for the story of Burlington is catalogued in its people. (Full disclosure: He is an occasional contributor to Seven Days.)

Arcadia Publishing approached Resnik to write the Burlington installment in its Legendary Locals series.

“You get these emails that say, ‘Congratulations, you have been selected for the jerks of New England. Write the book and you’ll receive your $25 check in the mail,'” Resnik quipped in a phone call.

But that email lingered in his inbox until he decided to take on the challenge of writing short-and-sweet stories about nearly 100 Queen City residents, past and present, who have some claim to fame. More than 200 photographs help tell their tales.

“It’s amazing how I got a real sense of responsibility,” Resnik said. “What can you do in 120 pages of pictures and captions? There’s no way you can touch all the bases.”

As a self-professed foodie and music nut, Resnik resisted the urge to weight the book too heavily toward his personal interests. Instead, he divvied up Burlington’s “legends” into seven chapters and included an introduction detailing Burlington’s origins as a township, granted on June 7, 1763. A century later, the lucrative trading post founded by Ethan and Ira Allen evolved into the city of Burlington. And the rest is history, literally. Legendary Locals brings us up to entries as recent as Dave and Jenny Rooke, who began home-brewing all-natural Rookie’s Root Beer in 2005.

“With every entry I had to ask, ‘Has this person really done something to make Burlington what it is today?'” said Resnik, explaining the challenge of winnowing down the multitude of eligible candidates.

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