Vermont’s Literary Daughter: Brent L. Kendrick on Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

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I am honored to be featured on Barney Smith’s Vermont Artists and Authors podcast, StoryComic, Episode 361.

I had a delightful time talking with Barney about Vermont’s most famous writer, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and my book Green Mountain Stories, a collection of 28 stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Originally published in 1887 under the title A Humble Romance and Other Stories, it’s now in print 136 years later under what appears to have been the title that Freeman and her editor, Mary Louise Booth, had agreed upon: Green Mountain Stories.

You can hear more about Freeman and the book’s backstory in Barney’s interview. I emphasize the fact that Freeman is a Vermont writer, and that Green Mountain Stories is made in Vermont.

■ I hope that Green Mountain Stories brings great inspiration to readers across Vermont.

■ I hope that each of the 262,852 households in Vermont buys a copy.

■ I hope that each of the 185 public libraries in Vermont buys at least one copy.

■ And I hope that each of the 250 public schools in Vermont figures out a way to incorporate at least one Mary E. Wilkins Freeman short story into their curriculum. They will find many suitable ones in Green Mountain Stories–stories on par with the best in American Literature, right up there with Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Sarah Orne Jewett, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Sherwood Anderson, and William Faulkner.

6 thoughts on “Vermont’s Literary Daughter: Brent L. Kendrick on Mary E. Wilkins Freeman”

  1. You were absolutely magnificent! You should be very proud of yourself and the work that you’re doing for Freeman. Bravo!

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    • You are absolutely too kind!

      Even so, I do take pride in my five decades of Freeman scholarship! I hope that what I have done and what I have yet to do helps others and that it has a lasting impact.

      Thanks so much!

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  2. I was about to write all of this praise on your interview….and then it happened. You said, and I quote, “She’s better than Poe,” and I had a heart attack. I can’t even…lol!

    But seriously, this is fantastic and I’m so happy you got this opportunity to share your expertise about Freeman!

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    • Thanks so much for your enthusiastic comments.

      I’m excited because the podcast is orchestrated by a Vermont podcaster whose focus on Freeman, hopefully, will make her better known throughout the Green Mountain State!

      👍

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