Wrong Guitar
In [“Dead-icated,” August 6], the caption on a photo of Zach Nugent states that he is playing Jerry Garcia’s Rosebud. In fact, he is playing a replica of Garcia’s Tiger. An examination of both guitars online will confirm the difference.
The replica Tiger was built by Doug Irwin’s apprentice, Tom Lieber. He also built a Wolf that Zach has played.
Christopher Dayton
Cornwall
Listen Here
I wasn’t really a Grateful Dead fan until I started listening to “Buck Dancer’s Choice” with Corey on WRUV-FM several years ago. I tune in at 8 a.m. most Friday mornings for a half hour of Grateful Dead from years ago. DJ Corey is very knowledgeable of their musicianship and history and promotes all local bands, along with the tribute bands so well described in last week’s cover story [“Dead-icated,” August 6].
Larry Kupferman
Burlington
‘What a Cover!’
This letter seems to be the only way to say to you: “What a cover!!”
The cover on the Seven Daysies issue [July 30] deserves a credit. I was wowed by it and started looking for a way to say: “Who did that!!?” The cover creator has a stupendous imagination!!! Thanks. Please include cover credits on the cover.
Charlotte McGray
South Starksboro
Editor’s note: The credit for Daysies illustrator Sean Metcalf is on the Contents spread — page 9 — directly under the cover image. The graphic designer of the page was Seven Days art director Diane Sullivan.
Remembering Ruth
I wish to express my gratitude to Paula Routly for shining a light on our beloved colleague Ruth Furman [From the Publisher: “Pen Pals,” July 23]. And because I am also a Quaker, I get to speak of our interconnectedness. In my daily prayers, I ask that all leaders be guided by human rights for all, compassion and reconciliation.
Thank you, Ruth, for sharing the power of your kindness and love.
Patty Heather-Lea
Bristol
Older Than You
[Re Feedback: “Native or Naïve?” July 30]: Our current understanding of archaeology puts human habitation of what we now call Vermont as starting at least 10,000 years ago. Letter writer Will Fagan’s six generations and 70 years within the imaginary lines of a modern geopolitical boundary is a laughable drop in the bucket compared to the ancestry that every Abenaki person can claim.
Every human’s life is like a dart thrown by the hand of fate at a map of space and time. Fagan says, “God help us” from certain people he doesn’t like. Well, I say God help us from those whose egos have led them to believe that the arbitrary arc of their fate-tossed life somehow renders their voice more important than others whose paths are tangentially adjacent. Fagan isn’t special; he should get over himself. (Perhaps he’ll need God’s help with that, too.)
Joe Howansky
Worcester
Size Matters
I was at the airport demonstration [“Activists Urge Burlington to Block ICE From Using Airport,” August 6, online]. Protester turnout was easily 200. A former journalist myself, I counted them. It’s important not to underrepresent turnout.
Linda Quinet
Burlington
Great Chekhov on a Dirt Road
[Re “Zephyr Teachout Discusses Her New Role at Unadilla Theatre,” August 6]: As a first-time visitor to the historic Unadilla Theatre in scenic, out-of-the-way Marshfield, I almost couldn’t believe the caliber of artistry on display in its converted barn. I haven’t seen a better Chekhov production anywhere.
Director Laura Strausfeld’s Ivanov draws out the somewhat neglected play’s great psychological and philosophical insights and, most of all, its humor. She has assembled a remarkably skillful cast of mostly local comedians to complement a sensitive lead performance by Sam Underwood, a well-known TV actor from New York City. Bringing a deep and persuasive agita to the haunting title role, Underwood conveys Ivanov’s despair as a genuine emergency, which somehow makes its comic backdrop even funnier — it’s the magic of Chekhov.
To me, it also felt like the magic of Vermont — the evening reminded me why I moved here. Where else can one expect to find such a profound experience of art on such an unassuming dirt road? I urge others to make the trip to Unadilla before Ivanov closes on August 24.
Brett Yates
Burlington
The Math on School Funding
[Re Feedback: “Invest in Rural Schools,” June 25]: I appreciate Brian Chick’s support for small schools, although his letter also perpetuates one common misconception.
There is no correlation between school size and cost in Vermont’s public schools. Tuition rates range from about $15,000 to nearly $30,000, with small and large schools all along the spectrum. Fairfax Elementary (624 students) and Morgan (40 pupils) are equally cheap, around $15,000. At the other extreme, Harwood (1,720 students) and Peacham (97) both charge close to $22,000. So, the idea that small schools are more expensive is simply false.
Chick’s main point is spot-on, though: The economic viability of rural towns depends on schools. Young families choose rural areas precisely because of their small schools. But close those schools and turn children into long-distance commuters? No parent would choose that for their kids.
Schools are often the largest employer in small towns. Alongside teachers and principals are paraeducators, cooks, custodians, secretaries and bus drivers — most of them local folks. What happens to the local economy when all those people lose their jobs? If young adults stop moving in, who will volunteer for the fire departments, fast squads and all the committees that keep town governments functioning? Our rural towns might as well become retirement communities.
Legislators need to take a hard look at the potential downstream consequences of massive consolidation. The economic viability of our rural towns is at stake. And since Vermont is 65 percent rural, this means the economic viability of the entire state.
Betsy Brigham
Marshfield
Related Stories
Dead-icated: Vermont’s Love Affair With the Grateful Dead
From the Publisher: Pen Pals
Letters to the Editor (7/30/25)
Activists Urge Burlington to Block ICE From Using Airport
Zephyr Teachout Takes Over as Unadilla Theatre’s Artistic Director
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2025.
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