With brand new cartoons by Don Hooper, and a foreword by Jeff Danziger, 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 stories from previous collections, the authors gather together more than a dozen modern humorists in this exuberant, charming, and affectionate history of Vermont humor.
Don Hooper has two degrees from Harvard and has been a Peace Corps teacher in Botswana; Vermont back-to-lander; goat milker; farmers' marketeer; dirt worshiper; tree hugger; legislator; and Secretary of State. His partner Allison is a co-founder of Vermont Creamery. They live in Brookfield and enjoy time with their grandkids Olcott and Weston, who call Don "Mothusi" which means "helper," the nickname his students gave him in Botswana.
Bill Mares has been a reporter-photographer, state legislator, and high school teacher. Raised in Texas and educated at Harvard, he has authored or co-authored 17 books, including, with Ross Conrad and others, a history of beekeeping in Vermont, "The Land of Milk and Honey" (Green Place Books, 2020). He lives in Burlington with his wife of 48 years, Chris Hadsel. They have two sons.