David Huddle, beloved husband, father, friend, teacher, mentor and writer, died on October 7, 2025, in Burlington, Vt.
Originally from Ivanhoe, Va., he interrupted his undergraduate work at the University of Virginia to serve in the U.S. Army in Germany and Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star for his service. He returned to UVA, where he met his wife, Lindsey Massie, completed an MA at Hollins University and an MFA at Columbia University, then began teaching at the University of Vermont in 1971. His books vividly and profoundly reflect on these experiences, the people he knew and loved, and his dedication to the writing habit.
A prolific writer, he published nine books of poetry, six novels, five collections of short stories and a collection of essays. His work appeared in the New Yorker, the American Scholar, Esquire, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories, the Georgia Review, Green Mountains Review, Appalachian Heritage and Blackbird, among others. He received two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, in 1978 and 1987; he won the Library of Virginia Award for Fiction in 2012 and the PEN New England Award for Poetry in 2013; and he was a fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts & Sciences. Writers admire his “his luminous characters,” “subtle flashes of insight” and “his rigorously conversational talk.” His friend Julia Alvarez writes, “Huddle gives us not just a glimpse, but that rare revelatory and redeeming experience of seeing and becoming … others, which is why we read and need his novels.”
In his 38 years at the University of Vermont and during his many decades at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English, David was a teacher as generous as he was brilliant. He cherished his friendships with colleagues and enthusiastically shared his love of American literature, creative writing and reading aloud. Knowing that writers need each other, he worked tirelessly to create a strong literary community by bringing stellar authors to campus and, at UVM, seeking to hire not only the best writers but also the most effective teachers. Colleagues write that they began to feel UVM was home when he and Lindsey welcomed them to campus by inviting them to dinner.
Many of David’s former students became successful writers thanks to his encouragement, advice, and introductions to literary agents and editors. He thrived on teaching and served as a visiting writer at universities across the country, including the Sewanee School of Letters and his alma mater, Hollins University. He also taught at the Rainier Writing Workshop for 13 summers. He valued each writer’s experience, perspective and identity. Those he taught became friends, and he often read manuscripts from former students for decades after they had left his class.
David lived vigorously. A tenor saxophone player in a band as a young man, he loved many genres of music: rock, classical, bluegrass, classic country and especially jazz, which inspired his novel Tenorman. He loved to dance in the kitchen while cooking dinner and at Bread Loaf barn dances. He played tennis every Saturday with Lindsey and any time he could with friends. His friend Hugh Coyle writes, “Anyone who attended Bread Loaf back in the ’90s will also remember David’s booming voice calling out “Volleyball!” after dinner.” He loved traveling with his family, especially the annual trip to Cape May, N.J. And in the last decade of his life, he took thousands of photographs of migratory birds.
He is survived by his wife, Lindsey; daughters, Bess and Molly; sons-in-law, Nick and Ray; and grandchildren, Hattie, Phoebe and Hank. He is predeceased by his brother Charles and survived by his brother Bill.
We are most grateful to the Residence at Quarry Hill staff who appreciated his humor and cared for him so tenderly. A memorial service will be held on Monday, November 24, 2025, 10 a.m., at St. James Episcopal Church in Essex Junction, Vt. To attend virtually, go to the St. James website: stjamesvt.org.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at birds.cornell.edu/home.
We treasure our memories of him and his many books. They will keep us company as we reckon with the anguish of his loss.
This article appears in Nov 5-11 2025.
This is sad news about an unforgettable man. I sat in David’s classroom in 1988. The writers he introduced us to that summer have become lifelong friends, and I remember the discussions and the way he managed the discussions. Never teaching one or two stories by a writer or the anthologized story, David would teach collections by each of the writers we encountered transferring to us his respect for the way the short story writer wanted his readers to find their way. I once asked him how he managed writing and teaching, and he told me that he would wake up while the campus was still asleep. The summer was peppered with the occasional but always super early echo of his ink jet printer. Lindsey and Molly we’ve never met, and Bess, you won’t remember me, but I send on a sincere wish that the aching sting of grief passes quickly and his memory becomes a blessing.
My condolences to Professor Huddle’s family and friends. His genuine enjoyment of my efforts as a young person was life changing. I believe the work I do today as a writer and educator 20 years later is directly related to his example. I’m so grateful to have been able to study under such a giving, warm, and insightful teacher.
David Huddle changed me with a single gesture: he paired his feedback with an image, and mine was always an Escher print. He used those black-and-white impossibilities to tell me, gently but firmly, to look harder and think deeper. When my writing finally earned a new picture, I knew I’d finally learned to see. His guidance shaped me as a writer and a teacher, and I’ll carry that gift for the rest of my life.
Sad, sorry for your loss to all the Huddles; one of best readers aloud of literature ever! Great in class and at the podium and on the Bread Loaf red clay tennis court.
For those who write and had the good fortune to to share work with David Huddle, this is sad, sad news, and also a reminder of the brilliance and kindness he exemplified in the lives of so many.
David was a fantastic teacher. I took as many of his poetry classes as I could receive credits for.
David was a warm and encouraging professor, a good-humored friend, and a lovely human being who could write eloquently in any genre. So many fond memories. My sympathies to Lindsay, Bess, Molly and their families. May your love and memories sustain you.
A delightful and huge-hearted friend. May his dear memory be eternal, and as a blessing.
Wonderful man and inspiring teacher. I’ll never forget what he did for me as a student.
David was a fixture at Bread Loaf. A monumental one. And a Southern gentleman. He was a Friend of the Front Desk and all who spent so many summers up on the mountain.
We will remember him well.
Peace to his family.