A Good Life in the Shadow of Terrible Mountain
November 23, 2024
Listen to the Podcast
Susan Leader makes pottery in a small shed at her home in Andover. In a field outside her doorstep is a view of Terrible Mountain.
Terrible Mountain sits between Andover and Weston. Folklore surrounds the mountain’s ominous name, and its mystique was likely heightened by the crash of a twin-engine plane in March 1968.
The mountain was once called Pleasant Mountain, but Terrible Mountain somehow stuck.
“I would call Terrible Mountain a ‘she,'” Susan says. “And I think of her as a towering protector, a protectress.”
-Terrible Mountain between Andover and Weston. Its elevation is just below 2,900 feet.
A Good Place
Susan’s parents, part of the back-to-the-land movement, came to Andover in 1950. During the Red Scare, her parents were accused of being Communists, making them outcasts in town.
After college and living in different places, Susan eventually returned home to Andover for good in 1979 and started her Southern Vermont pottery business.
“Despite our beginnings as an outsider family in Andover, it’s almost like I can feel an electrical power of rootedness coming out of this land, this earth and Terrible Mountain,” she says.
-Susan and her father at their property in Andover; Susan poses with a piece of pottery. Main image: Susan making pottery in a shed at her home. Courtesy photos.
Happy Vermont Podcast Episode
In this podcast episode of Happy Vermont, Susan talks about her upbringing, her pottery, and life in Andover with her husband, musician John Specker.
-A fun coincidence: Here’s a photo I took of John Specker performing at the Peru Fair in 2001, decades before I met Susan.
Kristina Stykos
Posted at 17:49h, 26 NovemberThis is a wonderful piece and there is much value in keeping stories like these alive. I would love to hang out with Susan and catch up on more news at her kitchen table We are of a similar generation and what she knows about Vermont fills in some of my gaps. I hope she puts her Chester Telegraph articles into a small book. It doesn’t cost much to do, and I would savor having them to flip thru when the mood strikes me.
Erica
Posted at 18:04h, 26 NovemberHi Kristina — Thanks so much for commenting. I’m so glad you enjoyed learning about Susan. She is a treasure — so talented, knowledgeable, spirited and generous. I’ve known about her pottery for years but only recently came across her work in the Chester Telegraph while researching Terrible Mountain. Her writings would make for an excellent book about Vermont.
This piece has resonated with many people and I’m glad Susan was so willing to share her remarkable story..
I also know about your incredible work at Pepperbox, and I hope we can cross paths one of these days!
Thanks so much.
-Erica Houskeeper