Fred was already an old man when he began delivering, with every load of firewood, lively tales about bygone times in old Vermont. He had a real talent for spinning yarns and recounting a vivid chapter of Vermont''s history, which somehow has failed to reach the learned history books; though Fred''s tales speak volumes about the rugged people who live in Vermont. Fred''s skill was the art of historical recounting through storytelling. But Fred''s tales were not the stories of battles, politics or governmental upheavals. Rather they were always humorous and they were the stories of real people struggling to survive and better themselves.
