Host Erica Houskeeper talks about her brother, Matt, who died while kayaking in Southern Vermont last summer. It happened in a region of the state that Matt loved exploring.

In honor of Matt, Erica highlights a bit of history and geography in this part of Vermont.

Susan Leader is a well-known potter based in Andover, where she grew up at the base of Terrible Mountain.

In 1950, Susan's parents moved to Andover and settled at Popplewood Farm, where she spent her childhood.

Today, she lives on a piece of land her parents left her just up the road from her childhood home.

In this episode, we talk about Terrible Mountain, Susan's unconventional upbringing, and how she has found community in the small town of Andover.

Steve Farrow grew up in Holland, Vermont and now lives in Newport in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

Steve studied at UVM in the 1980s and his master’s thesis focused on Vermont place names. He now teacher geography at Community College of Vermont.

In this Happy Vermont podcast episode, Steve and host Erica Houskeeper talk about Vermont place names and lost names like Elysiana, Hurricane and Jefferson County. They also explore Vermont gores and grants, as well as town names like Eden, Troy and Athens.

www.happyvermont.com