Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter by Steve Delaney

Who is Kevin Beaujolais? Some of the people in Nilesburgh, Vermont, know a bit about him … but they don’t know everything. Newcomers know nothing. Kevin keeps to himself, works hard for the townspeople and hunters, and is somewhat of a Robin Hood figure. But he is a mystery man — even where he lives in town is a mystery.

How, in this day and time, can a fellow like Kevin Beaujolais live with us, work with us and … not exist?

Broadcaster Steve Delaney brings to life Kevin Beaujolais in his first novel, “Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter,” published by Plaidswede Publishing Co., of Concord, N.H. This is Delaney’s second book. The first, “Vermont Seasonings,” a collection of essays on life in Vermont, was published in 2007 by Plaidswede.

Kevin is one of the most vivid characters ever to bubble up from the deep well of Vermont fiction. His struggle between the fears that drive him to hide from bureaucracy and the love that tugs him toward the alluring Maureen drives this tale of romance and mischief … and mayhem. Their story unfolds in the northern Vermont town of Nilesburgh … a town that holds many secrets.

Delaney's distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and the state and now calls Milton his home. "Kevin" is his second book.