Writer, poet and lecturer was equally skilled at composing a sonnet or making maple syrup
Jay Karl Stevens, 71, died unexpectedly on February 19, 2025. Jay was born on November 11, 1953, in Springfield, Vt., to Karl and Patricia Stevens. Born into a long line of Vermont farmers, Jay attended school in Springfield and graduated from Kimball Union Academy before attending the University of Vermont. While at UVM he met the love of his life, Sara DeGennaro. The couple traveled the world together and lived in the fun and danger of Los Angeles and New York City during the gritty ’70s, marrying in 1980. In the mid-’80s, they returned to Vermont and raised their kids on the Stevens’ family farm in Weathersfield Bow, where he lived the rest of his life in rural idyll. Jay was a writer, poet, journalist and social historian. He wrote several books, including Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream, Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum, and was a noted expert and lecturer on states of consciousness, the history of psychedelics and the radical politics of the 1960s. He released two albums of his spoken word poetry set to music, Dance House and Orphic Revival. Yankee by birth and temperament, Jay was equally skilled at composing a sonnet or making maple syrup. Like most of his tribe, he was a gifted storyteller and was friends with many idiosyncratic characters. He was a man who equally enjoyed the solitude of the woods and a damn good party. He never met a cat who didn’t love him. He is fiercely missed. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sara; son, Zach Stevens (Lauren Ballard); daughter, Alexandra Stevens (Steven Hinz); brother, Warren Stevens (Paula Stevens); grandchildren, Sequoia, Canyon and Asa; and his nieces and nephews. A celebration of Jay’s life will occur in August; the date is still to be announced…
Writer, poet and lecturer was equally skilled at composing a sonnet or making maple syrup
Jay Karl Stevens, 71, died unexpectedly on February 19, 2025. Jay was born on November 11, 1953, in Springfield, Vt., to Karl and Patricia Stevens. Born into a long line of Vermont farmers, Jay attended school in Springfield and graduated from Kimball Union Academy before attending the University of Vermont. While at UVM he met the love of his life, Sara DeGennaro. The couple traveled the world together and lived in the fun and danger of Los Angeles and New York City during the gritty ’70s, marrying in 1980. In the mid-’80s, they returned to Vermont and raised their kids on the Stevens’ family farm in Weathersfield Bow, where he lived the rest of his life in rural idyll. Jay was a writer, poet, journalist and social historian. He wrote several books, including Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream, Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum, and was a noted expert and lecturer on states of consciousness, the history of psychedelics and the radical politics of the 1960s. He released two albums of his spoken word poetry set to music, Dance House and Orphic Revival. Yankee by birth and temperament, Jay was equally skilled at composing a sonnet or making maple syrup. Like most of his tribe, he was a gifted storyteller and was friends with many idiosyncratic characters. He was a man who equally enjoyed the solitude of the woods and a damn good party. He never met a cat who didn’t love him. He is fiercely missed. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sara; son, Zach Stevens (Lauren Ballard); daughter, Alexandra Stevens (Steven Hinz); brother, Warren Stevens (Paula Stevens); grandchildren, Sequoia, Canyon and Asa; and his nieces and nephews. A celebration of Jay’s life will occur in August; the date is still to be announced…