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Ken's Story
I
n 2019, while visiting the local Kellogg Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont Ken noticed a handwritten sign on a bulletin board with the headline, “Free.” Being a frugal man by nature, it seemed
prudent to investigate further. The notice contained an announcement for the formation of an informal writing group. Although this offer mentioned that one need not have much experience, Ken knew that he had none. For reasons that will remain a mystery, he decided on a whim, to sign up for the group without further consideration or a plan.
The rest, as they say, is history. Over a
period of four years, Ken crafted, in his own style, a collection of short story memoirs. Unlike most memoirs that unfold sequentially, Ken found material in all corners and phases of his life. Subjects include his love life, past relationships, friendships, sports, city and rural life, politics, travel, growing up and growing old, and reflections on accomplishments and failures.
The stories are set in a wide range of settings, including his hometown of Brooklyn and Queens, sacred basketball courts including the college fieldhouse in Connecticut, working with runaway children, securing a prestigious doctorate degree, and moving to Vermont, his adopted state for nearly fifty years. Work and pleasure trips to such diverse places as Hawaii, New Mexico, and the northwest are highlighted, as are experiences in South Africa and Botswana are highlighted.
Ken found his voice as he crafted stories told with passion, grace, and humor that will stimulate and warm the reader’s heart. While his stories attempt to explain his own life, they suggest that we are all connected with and by stories.
No one could accuse him of being a young phenom as a scribe: he started this adventure at age seventy-four. His first book, Snapshots of a Life, to be published in early 2024, confirms that he is a natural-born storyteller with a gifted prose style.
About
Ken
Ken Libertoff spent over three decades as a mental health care advocate in Vermont and nationally. When he retired in 2010, he received the Legendary Leadership Award from Mental Health America. He lives with his wife Sarah in an 1865 farmhouse outside of Montpelier where he embraces a new passion for writing essays, memoirs, and stories. He is seventy-eight years old.