Vermonters we lost in 2025 Credit: Courtesy In October, Seven Days writers and editors took a field trip to the Vermont International Film Foundation Screening Room in Burlington to watch the 2016 documentary Obit, about the obituary writers at the New York Times. If you haven’t seen it, you s hould. It’s a fascinating film about journalism and writing, and, given the subject matter, it’s surprisingly entertaining. For our purposes, the screening was inspiration for our annual Life Stories package, in which we recount the lives of a handful of Vermonters who died in the past year. Unlike the Times’ obit section, which is primarily populated by famous people and others who had an impact on the national or global stage, Seven Days’ Life Stories tend to focus on local people who might not have been household names but whose lives reflect some piece, big or small, of what it is to be a Vermonter. Read About the Vermonters Featured in Life Stories 2025 Brenda Churchill Todd “Highway” Sica Jay Karl Stevens Sister Sankofa, aka Shanda Delores Williams Roger Wales Linda “Jan” Danziger Summing up a person’s entire existence in 1,500 or so words is an intimidating task, as is interviewing grieving families and friends and piecing together a coherent narrative from often hazy recollections. Obit offers no shortage of helpful insights on the art of writing obituaries — and it is very much an art. But the most important observation is this, as told by author and former Times obit writer Margalit Fox: “Obits have next to nothing to do with death and, in fact, absolutely everything to do with life.” It seems as if that should be obvious, doesn’t it? It’s right there in the name of this package: Life Stories. And yet the specter of death can sometimes obscure the objective. When a writer is able to lift that veil, an obituary can tell us so much about what it means to be alive. This year, Seven Days writers present the stories of a remarkable cross-section of Vermonters. Some, such as trans rights advocate Brenda Churchill and author Jay Stevens, you might have heard of. Others, such as Weybridge farmer Roger Wales, civil rights activist Sister Sankofa, art teacher Jan Danziger, and former rock-and-roll roadie Todd “Highway” Sica, kept lower public profiles but had no less effect on the people and communities around them. Each was an important part of the fabric of Vermont and helped make this a better or more interesting or simply kinder place. Thanks, as always, to the families and friends of the deceased for sharing their stories with us. The post Life Stories: Remembering Vermonters Who Died in 2025 appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less