Matt Dunne for Vermont

12/07/2024

In case you missed it, Kevin Ellis interviewed Sarah on WDEV yesterday about Agony Hill. And it was great as you would expect. Take a listen!

11/13/2024

Today is our annual Small Towns Big Ideas national pitch competition!

We are super excited that this year we are partnering with the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth to have the event in person as well as live streamed. The competition will start at 5 PM EST at the Magnuson Center on Dartmouth College campus this evening with a reception to follow. All are welcome to attend.

Please come to see the up and coming tech startups from across the Center on Rural Innovation network of communities and who will win the $10,000 prize.
Hope to see you there!

09/28/2024

For my friends in Stowe, Sarah will be signing books today at Bear Pond from 11-1. If you are in town, swing by and say hi!

09/12/2024

Sarah is in Boston doing book signings today, but she is getting back in time to do a reading, signing and talk about Agony Hill at our own Hartland Public Library tonight at 6 pm.

Hope to see you there!

Sarah Stewart Taylor Books

08/10/2024

Hello my Manchester VT area peeps!

Sarah is doing a book reading and signing for Agony Hill this evening at Northshire Bookstore at 6:00 as the latest leg on her book tour.

Please come join us for a lovely summer literary event. Hope to see you there!

Northshire BookstoreNorthshire Bookstore Sarah Stewart Taylor Books Manchester Vt Discover Dorset, VT Manchester Vt Jerry Skapof Seth Bongartz Chris Morrow

08/03/2024

This Tuesday my incredibly talented wife is coming out with a new murder mystery series.

And, much to my delight, this one is set in 1965 Vermont!

The first in the series, Agony Hill does a beautiful job of capturing the dynamic tension of a state going through dramatic change. The interstates are coming through, new people are moving in, the first Democrat Governor since the Civil War is hitting his stride alongside the federal policies that are changing the power dynamics, and anger over the war is starting to spill over into the rural communities of Vermont.

As Sarah dove into the research, including talking to many friends and family, we enjoyed learning the dynamics of the early back to the land migration, the strategies of the then-tiny state police force, and complexities of cultures colliding. What I found particularly intriguing was the active Cold War activities taking place in our small towns and back roads, in a place not too far from the major cities, but where one could hide in plain sight . . . or so they thought.

But you don’t have to take the word of a biased husband and known Vermont exceptionalist. The early reviews have been lovely and I particularly like this starred review from the Library Journal:

“The author of the Maggie D’arcy mysteries (A Stolen Child) launches a historical mystery series with a compassionate, vulnerable detective and a setting so vividly described it could be a character.”

Sarah is having her launch party at:

The Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont
Tuesday August 6th
7:00 pm

If you can't make it, preorders matter a lot in the world of publishing, so please consider ordering today online from your local bookstore or wherever you buy books!

Publisher’s description pasted below. Thank you for your support at the launch of this exciting new series.

- Matt
Proud Husband

Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor's trademark.

In the hot summer of 1965, Bostonian Franklin Warren arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren's new home is on the verge of monumental change; the interstates under construction will bring new people, new opportunities, and new problems to Vermont, and the Cold War and protests against the war in Vietnam have finally reached the dirt roads and rolling pastures of Bethany.

Warren has barely unpacked when he's called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and Back-to-the-Lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren’t adding up for Warren. The people of Bethany―from Weber’s enigmatic wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows―clearly have secrets they’d like to keep, but Warren can’t tell if the truth about Weber’s death is one of them. As he gets to know his new home and grapples with the tragedy that brought him there, Warren is drawn to the people and traditions of small town Vermont, even as he finds darkness amidst the beauty.

06/11/2024

My incredibly talented wife has written a fantastic short story about the most underrated season in Vermont. . . and the perfect setting for a murder mystery. Available now to download. I'll put the link in the comments.

Enjoy!

_________
Enter the world of 1960s Bethany, Vermont in this suspenseful short story featuring characters from the forthcoming Agony Hill.
It’s mud season in Bethany, Vermont. As spring nears, the thawing ground and melting snow-pack have created muddy, impassable roads. It’s not unusual to see a driver pushing their car or going for help. But a car with Pennsylvania plates has been completely abandoned, still stuck in the mud.
Alice Bellows, an inquisitive widow who seems to know everything going on in town, can’t help but wonder what would lead someone to abandon their car like that. All that’s left in the car are two suitcases sitting in the trunk, no registration or keys. The police aren’t too concerned about the abandoned car, but Alice thinks there’s more to the story. Not sure what she’ll find or who may get hurt, she takes it upon herself to find the car’s owner and what they’re hiding in her small town.

This is Matt Dunne's external page focused on Vermont, politics and other passions.

04/29/2022

Abe's essay about being a page and his passion for the Cedar Creek Room aired today on VPR! A very proud dad. Thank you to Sen Becca Balint, Sen Dick McCormack and Sen. Alison Clarkson for making his tour this possible and to for deciding to give young people a voice!

You can find his audio essay here:

Every legislative session, eighth graders from around Vermont apply to be legislative pages. Some of them pages have shared essays with VPR about what it’s like to serve under the golden dome.

11/14/2021

Many friends have asked what I've been working on over the last couple of years. Two little social ventures, The Center on Rural Innovation and Rural Innovation Strategies, have blossomed into exciting enterprises with over forty people doing exciting work across the country plus an amazing AmeriCorps*VISTA team. We're based in the village of Hartland 3 Corners, but half of our amazing team is spread out across the country, bringing powerful, diverse perspectives to our work.

The team put together a short video that explains what we do better than any side deck or presentation I could make, and I'm delighted to share it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDMDwjgTT4g

Even with all of the uncertainty in this time, I couldn't be more fired up about what our future can be. Thank you for all of your support in helping us realize this vision. You can read more about the work here:https://ruralinnovation.us/

Moving beyond what could be, to what is. A message from your rural neighbors and the Center on Rural Innovation.

01/11/2021

Cross posting from my personal account:

Outside of the insanity at the Capitol, last week represented a unique moment of convergence.

When I ran for State Senate in 2002, I made the excellent decision to hire Allison Sultan as my campaign manager, a good friend to this day. In addition, I did two things to bolster the effort. 1. Convince 21st Century Democrats to invest in a field organizer supporting all Democratic candidates in Windsor County. 2. Hire a young field director for my campaign.
For both, this was their first political job. They were put up in the homes of volunteers and together worked out of a small, rundown office in the old Fellows Gearshaper building in Springfield, long before the renovations that took place a decade later. They worked incredibly hard and helped deliver my victory in a 4 month sprint and the 21st Century Dems field organizer also aided in flipping house seats in many districts across the county.

The 21st Century Dems Field Organizer, Jill Krowinski, was sworn in as Speaker of the House of Vermont on Wednesday.

The Field Director for my campaign, Scott Fairchild, is now the Director of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and completed his mission to flip the US Senate in the early hours of the same day.

While I can't take credit for their incredible journeys since that fall of 2002 other than providing encouraging words in the ensuing 18 years, I remain incredibly grateful for their work on my small campaign back in day that allowed me to return to elective politics in VT, and am deeply proud to have watched them emerge as leaders making a profound impact in our state and the nation. I also know they have only just begun.

Never underestimate the impact of empowering a young person, with a clear passion to make the world a better place, allowing that person to take on a job that stretches their limits and lets them really understand the agency they have to make change possible. In this time of transition and division, we need to remember that now more than ever, just as I wish Jill and Scott good luck as the leaders we need now to move our state and country into a better place.

12/17/2020

Honored to be included in Tom Friedman's oped and call to action.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/opinion/kamala-harris-rural-america.html

She could be at the forefront of helping a part of America that’s been left behind.

07/21/2020

On the heels of some great national reviews (including one reprinted in Sunday's Valley News Book section) Sarah is doing a virtual author reading of her new book The Mountains Wild with the fantastic Northshire Bookstore tonight!

While we would all love to be physically at this iconic center of community in Southern Vermont, we hope you will join Sarah by zoom! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northshire-live-mystery-double-feature-tickets-111854335328?fbclid=IwAR1bWIgK0abQ0Ql4_AoEsGS75MsCO2hA_7MjCYaGkB-ZKz9-Fcx2TvKG5aA

Mystery authors Paul Doiron and Sarah Stewart Taylor will share their latest work.

05/05/2020

The Center on Rural Innovation is on the front lines of ensuring people affected by the pandemic can find employment. Please consider a contribution on this giving Tuesday!

Now, more than ever, to help rural communities and economies recover from COVID-19, we must ensure residents in small towns and communities are equipped to participate in the 21st-century digital economy. How do we achieve this? By providing them with digital skilling and remote work training that will enhance their resumes and prepare them for remote jobs.

During this pandemic, we’ve provided scholarships to a pilot program for rural Vermonters looking to complete a remote work training certificate program. By investing in their education, we are building a remote digital workforce that will empower our nation in a post-pandemic future.

For , we’re featuring Master Remote Work Professional Certificate Course graduates like Cara in the hope that you’ll consider making a donation to CORI and the work we’re doing to empower rural America during this global health crisis. https://ruralinnovation.us/donate/

04/19/2020

Understanding that there are real financial challenges in higher education and particularly under the current pandemic, we must be clear that the proposed elimination of three Vermont State College campuses will certainly accelerate two things:

1. The emergence of two Vermonts - one wealthy and resilient, and one that is not.

2. The loss of young Vermonters.

In a state with a brand of strong values and immense beauty, we benefit from higher education where we can import cash and export intellectual and skill-based value. Without residential options of different kinds, these students will bring their resources and brains elsewhere.

Institutions of higher education bring not only the salaries to professors/staff and spending power of students, but technology transfer opportunities for jobs (see LED Dynamics in Randolph) and faculty spouse value that provide highly educated remote workers or fill gaps in growing organizations that need skills harder to find in non-urban places. Thinking the economic hit will just be the 500 state college employees is a gross underestimation. The state might want to do a reverse REMI model (economic impact analysis) to understand what the change will cost in total revenue to the state over the next five years.

At moments of a national economic crisis, it is the public sector investments that can help turn things around and create a more equitable recovery. This step is exactly the opposite. To not make this decision in the context of state higher eduction in general, including the ~$5M that goes via VSAC to support students going to out of state institutions in very small chunks, is a serious mistake that will have long lasting consequences.

https://vtdigger.org/2020/04/17/vermont-state-colleges-chancellor-to-recommend-closing-three-campuses/

02/18/2020

Grateful to Working Nation for covering the rural piece of the future of work. https://workingnation.com/rural-innovation-hubs-plugging-americas-brain-drain/

12/10/2019

Today, CORI is launching our Rural Opportunity Map at the Demo Day and Summit in D.C. This powerful mapping and data tool will help stakeholders visualize—and act on—the opportunities found in rural America. You’re an investor looking to a back a startup? The Rural Startup Scout will show you Opportunity Zones with the infrastructure needed for budding small-town tech startups. You’re a local leader trying to help your community? The Local Leaders Action Map will show your town’s assets and opportunities, while letting you explore the resources that have helped similar communities thrive. Explore the map to see for yourself how 21st century mapping shows a picture of rural America filled with opportunity.

Thanks to the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Reid Hoffman, Rural LISC, Schmidt Futures, and Walmart for making this project possible. Thanks to U.S. Census Bureau
for contributing data and supporting the Opportunity Project and thanks to New America for hosting a valuable collaborative design workshop. Learn more about the map from our press release, and follow our twitter for more updates from the TOP event!

https://ruralinnovation.us/center-on-rural-innovation-unveils-the-rural-opportunity-map-a-unique-data-driven-framework-to-foster-economic-success-in-small-towns/

12/07/2019

The Center on Rural Innovation is growing and we are launching a search for a Director of Communications. This is a unique and exciting opportunity for an experienced communications professional with a passion for rural communities, tech entrepreneurship and an interest in helping scale a national social enterprise.

https://apply.workable.com/ruralinnovation/j/D51B7BCF3A/

12/03/2019

On giving Tuesday, please consider a contribution to the Center on Rural Innovation . We are making excellent progress with small towns ready to build economies for the future, but we need individual contributions to the momentum going and make sure we are successful in closing the rural opportunity gap.

Thank you for your consideration!