Ellen Stimson

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Ellen Stimson is an American author. In 2013 she wrote the work Mud Season, detailing her family's life in small town Vermont, after moving from the St. Louis area. [1] The stories that appear in her books are largely based around their holiday traditions and life running a small country store in Dorset, Vermont. Parts of her books have also appeared in Reader's Digest . [2] Her follow-up Good Grief! was published in 2014, [3] which was then followed by her book An Old Fashioned Christmas. [2]

Contents

Personal life

Ellen Stimson was raised in St. Louis and continued living there until 2003, when she moved to the town of Dorset, Vermont. [4] She took over a country store in Dorset and operated it until 2007, [5] naming it "Peltier's" after the original owners. [6] The store itself was first founded in 1816. [7] While living in St. Louis, Stimson had previously been the head of the retail division for book wholesaler The Book Source, [8] before becoming a part owner in Unique Books. [9] Stimson is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed at the age of 33 in 1996. [10] She is married to John Rushing, with whom she has three kids. [9]

Mud Season

In 2013 Stimson published the book Mud Season: How One Woman’s Dream of Moving to Vermont, Raising Children, Chickens and Sheep, and Running the Old Country Store Pretty Much Led to One Calamity After Another. Rachel Carter reviewed the book, writing it, “is a fish-out-of-water tale describing what it’s actually like to move to a rural town in the middle of nowhere.” Stimson made the decision to write the work as her 50th birthday approached in 2012, feeling that the best way of spending the weeks running up to the date was to write a book. [5] The narrative non-fiction work surrounds her country store, the sale of which occurs at the end of the book. [11] One of the book’s chapters “Bats and Bears and Skunks — Oh My” was reprinted in the October 2013 edition of Reader’s Digest . [7] [6]

Good Grief!

In 2014 Stimson published the book Good Grief! Life in a Tiny Vermont Village. [4] The book follows her narrative non-fiction about her family. Kirkus Reviews wrote, “Stimson, her husband and their three children are still living in rural Vermont, dealing with all of the changes that come as children become teenagers and marriages find their patterns.” [12] The book was supported by a thirty city national book tour. [13]

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

In 2015 Stimson published her book An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Sweet Traditions for Hearth and Home. The book contains the Christmas-related tales about her family, from their choice to live in Vermont to their holiday celebrations. [14] The book also contains recipes that the family make for the holiday season. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "Much Season Calamity after Woman". Boston Globe.
  2. 1 2 "Vermont Author Hits Lifes Potholes and Strikes Gold". VT Digger. 29 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Review: Ellen Stimson, Good Grief!". Kirkus Reviews.
  4. 1 2 Post-Dispatch, Harry Levins Special to the. "St. Louis flatlander and her further adventures in Vermont".
  5. 1 2 "From city dweller to Vermonter: Mud Season's Ellen Stimson on love, humor and Good Grief - BookTrib". 6 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Book review: 'Mud Season: How One Woman's Dream of Moving to Vermont, Raising Children, Chickens, and Sheep & Running the Old Country Store Pretty Much Led to One Calamity After Another' by Ellen Stimson - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe .
  7. 1 2 "Last laugh &#145;Flatlander' turns Vermont bumps into a tell-all book : Times Argus Online". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  8. ↑ ""Mud Season" Author to Chat With Customers Via Hotline". 5 September 2013.
  9. 1 2 Henderson, Jane. "'Mud Season" author embraces her New England lifestyle".
  10. ↑ "Author Ellen Stimson Shares the Tattoo that Healed Her Breast Cancer - BookTrib". 19 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Muddy life amid mountain greenery". 3 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "GOOD GRIEF! by Ellen Stimson - Kirkus Reviews".
  13. ↑ "Vt. Author finds payoff in life's potholes : Rutland Herald Online". Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  14. ↑ "Best-selling author to speak at dinner in Holyoke". 14 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Easy Holiday Recipes". Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
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