Scudder Parker’s family moved to a small dairy farm in North Danville, Vermont when he was nine years old. They all worked hard on their hilly land, and were gradually welcomed by the surrounding community— first as outsiders, then dairy farmers, then Christmas tree growers. When their farmhouse burned, (and neighbors surrounded them with support and companionship) his father was already transitioning to Protestant ministry. The family moved to Hardwick, Vermont, where his father became pastor of the United Church, and Scudder suddenly became a “preacher’s kid”.
Scudder graduated from Hardwick Academy (1961), Williams College, and then Union Theological Seminary. But he had always expected to return to Vermont, and did. He served as a Protestant minister for over 20 years in McIndoe Falls, East St. Johnsbury and Lower Waterford. Interest in social justice and good public policy led him to run for Vermont State Senator in Caledonia County, serving from 1981–1988. For eight years he was both a pastor and a politician.
He then began work in energy policy, including energy efficiency and renewable energy. In 2006, Scudder was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Vermont, and resumed work on energy and utility policy until his retirement in 2017.
Since retirement Scudder has worked as a poet and essayist. His first volume of poetry Safe as Lightning, released in June, 2020, by Rootstock Publishing, and was awarded the Best Poetry Book of 2020 by the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE). His second volume, The Poem of the World, was published by Kelsay Books in April of 2025. Both books are largely autobiographical about growing up in Vermont. His Substack account, Natural Voice, is available to everyone for free at: https://substack.com/@scudderparker
Poetry and storytelling have become his way of exploring both his childhood and current life in this amazing place of farms, woodlands, courageous people, and historic and changing communities. It’s the way he reclaims experience neglected, denied, or scorned—discovers things he once could not recognize or imagine—and participates in the unfolding of life in the astonishingly rich detail of our human enterprise.
Much of current American culture seems divorced from the realities of ordinary (and especially, rural) life. The images of “country life” for so many Americans alternates between Oh, isn’t this charming and rustic! and Oh, how rural and backward! Sometimes it is patronizing and infuriating. Other times it just seems disappointing and sad. Join Scudder Parker for an exploration of these topics.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
