Rootstock Publishing, a Montpelier-based publisher and imprint of Multicultural Media, Inc., announces the December 7th release of I Could Hardly Keep From Laughing: An Illustrated Collection of Vermont Humor by former legislators Don Hooper and Bill Mares, with a foreword by prize-winning political cartoonist Jeff Danziger.
With snappy cartoons by Don Hooper and illuminating prose by Bill Mares, I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing is a potpourri of art and words documenting how Vermont humor has evolved over 150 years. While re-telling some treasured stories, the authors limelight more than a dozen modern humorists in this exuberant, charming, and affectionate collection.
In early 2018, Hooper asked Mares what his next book would be. Quick as lightning, Mares said, “a history of Vermont humor, but only if you’ll do it with me!” Mares set out to collect old and new stories but with Hooper’s cartoons, Mares argued, the book would be an anthology of something current, something loving and passionate, and something original. Hooper set to work sharpening his colored pencils. After a couple of years the work was done. To paraphrase the Vermont boy who found the horse no one else could, “We thought if we were to write a book what it would be like, and it was, and we did,” said Mares.
Don Hooper, of Brookfield, Vermont, is a Vermont educator, environmental activist, and political figure. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives for four terms, and as Secretary of State of Vermont for one. He received degrees from Harvard and lives with his partner Allison, co-founder of Vermont Creamery.
Bill Mares, of Burlington, Vermont, is a former journalist, state representative, and high school teacher. He has authored or co-authored 18 books on subjects ranging from the US Marines to desert travel, from war memorials to economic democracy, from brewing beer to beekeeping, and wrote over 200 commentaries for Vermont Public Radio. He lives with his wife of 50 years, Chris Hadsel.
I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing is available for pre-order with Rootstock Publishing at www.rootstockpublishing.com. Retailers interested in carrying the book may contact samantha@rootstockpublishing.com.
Release Date: December 7, 2021 / 200 pages / 8 x 8 / Paperback $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-57869-060-2 / Hardcover $29.99 ISBN: 978-1-57869-081-7 / Humor / Distributed by Rootstock Publishing
Advance Praise
“What a delightful respite from the woes of Washington to read this quirky treasury of humor in Vermont! Mares catalogues known and novel tales of Vermont’s well-known and unknown, while Hooper brightens the pages with over 100 cartoons that will bring chuckles to all but the grouchiest.” —U.S. Congressman Peter Welch
