Release Date: December 7, 2021
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-060-2
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-57869-081-7
LCCN: 2021905142
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Here.

SYNOPSIS

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 of Vermont humor.

Includes a foreword by Jeff Danziger, political cartoonist, author, and recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast Prize.

Praise

“Mares has combed the archives, Hooper has scribbled up some characters. Slathered in irreverence, and aided by a score of other wit-sters, their book gives you the real deal of Vermont's rich history of humor.”

—Anne Galloway, founder of VTDigger

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“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.”

—US Congressman Peter Welch

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“When Hooper and Mares got together to write I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing, they made sure you won’t be able to either. Most writers have to CRAFT titles for their books; Hooper and Mares ARE their own titles.”

—Frank Bryan, University of Vermont professor and humorist

REVIEWS & IN THE NEWS

Story Comic Podcast, March 16, 2022: Storycomic Presents (Episode 149): Bill Mares & Don Hooper

Seven Days VT, March 16, 2022: Bill Mares and Don Hooper Chronicle Vermont Humor in 'I Could Hardly Keep From Laughing'

Across the Fence, WCAX, March 10, 2022: Vermont Humor: Bill Mares & Don Hooper Discuss "I Could Hardly Keep From Laughing"

The Herald, February 24, 2022: Vt. Humor Primer Features Artwork of Brookfield’s Hooper

NewPages, January 6, 2022: A Darned Good Book About Vermont Humor

VTDigger, December 26, 2021: Vermont Conversation: What’s so funny about Vermont?

Valley News, December 16, 2021: Book Notes: Reading up on what makes Vermont Vermont

Seven Days VT, November 29, 2021: The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, December 1 to 7

Burlington Free Press, November 25, 2021: Consider these Vermont-related books, just in time for holiday-shopping season

MEET THE AUTHORS

In kindergarten, Don Hooper was the last to master coloring inside the lines. But with an undergrad degree and a master’s from Harvard, even on Hooper’s screwiest days, people surmised erroneously that he must be smarter than he seems. Hooper is or has been: a Peace Corps teacher in Botswana; a back-to-land Vermont invader; goat milker; farmers’ marketeer; dirt worshiper; tree hugger; legislator; Secretary of State. With his partner Allison (co-founder of Vermont Creamery), the Hoopers have produced three, side-hill, entrepreneurial lads, Miles, Sam, and Jay, who perpetuate revered Vermont traditions of thinking outside the box, earnest tinkering, and trying not to make things worse. Grandkids Olcott and Weston call Hoops “Mothusi,” which means “helper,” the generous nickname his students gave him in Botswana.

Raised in Texas, educated at Harvard, Bill Mares 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. Among Mares' books were four volumes of  Vermont humor with University of Vermont professor Frank Bryan, one of which ("Out of Order") was illustrated by Don Hooper. From 2007 to 2018, Mares wrote over 200 commentaries for Vermont Public Radio. He serves on the boards of VTDigger, the Vermont Beekeepers Association, the Vermont Brewers Association and Food4Farmers. He lives in Burlington, Vermont with his wife of 50 years, Chris Hadsel. They have two sons, Timothy and Nicholas.