Scudder H. Parker’s family moved to North Danville, Vermont, when he was nine years old. They worked hard on their bit of land, first as dairy farmers, then as Christmas tree growers. When the farmhouse burned, his father was already transitioning to Protestant ministry. The family moved to Hardwick, Vermont, where his father became pastor of the United Church.
Scudder graduated from Hardwick Academy (1961), Williams College, and then Union Theological Seminary. He was a Protestant minister for over 20 years and served as a Vermont State Senator from Caledonia County for four terms (1981–1988).
Since retirement from a subsequent career in energy efficiency and renewable energy policy in 2017, he has been working as a poet and essayist. He is a passionate gardener and proud grandfather of four. He lives with his wife, Susan Sussman, in Middlesex, Vermont.
He has been published in Sun Magazine, Vermont Life, Northern Woodlands, Wordrunner, Passager, Eclectica, Twyckenham Notes, Crosswinds, Ponder Review, La Presa, Aquifer, Sky Island Journal, Lascaux Review, Dogwood, Vermont Almanac, and Spoon River Poetry Review.
Poetry is the way he tries to reclaim experience neglected, denied, or scorned; discover things he could not recognize or imagine; and participate in the unfolding of life in its astonishingly rich detail.
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (March 7, 2025)