Jack Williamson

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our dearest Jack Williamson, née Harold John Williamson, on October 24, 2025 at age 85, with family at his side. Jack was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Harold Williamson, longtime residents of Bristol, Vermont.
Jack will be remembered as an individual who genuinely cared about the people he met throughout his life. People gravitated toward him for conversation, advice, and at any random moment when they needed to be heard. He often could be seen at the Charlotte Post Office or the Shelburne IGA stopping to chat with those he knew and those he had just met.
Nothing was more important than family to Jack, beginning as the oldest of five boys. He played a big role in the lives of his brothers Ron, Mark, Bruce, and Chris, and he cherished his years with them. Since age 11, Jack spent his summers at the family lake house at Cedar Beach in Charlotte, VT. Because he loved Lake Champlain and had been a deckhand on the ferry since he was 14, Jack got his Coast Guard Captain's license so he could pilot the ferry between Charlotte and Essex, NY during his summer vacations. He quickly realized that Cedar Beach was exactly where he wanted to be for the rest of his life.
Jack graduated from Bristol High School and the University of Vermont, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. He then served in the Vermont Air National Guard, and began his career in publishing, joining the college division of McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. With his love of Cedar Beach, he wrote to the owners of a home next door to his parents' summer house while in high school, asking that they tell him if they ever wanted to sell their summer home. And true to a Vermont neighbor, they wrote him many years later. Thus, at age 25, with incredible foresight, Jack bought the summer house that became his family's beloved year-round home on Lake Champlain to this day.
In 1969, Jack married Susan Soloway, beginning a lifelong union based on love, respect, working together, shared goals, humor, and a love of life in Vermont. In 1974, their daughter Sarah joined them and enriched their lives from that day forward. In 1977, their son Zachary was born, completing their family. What joy Jack found in his children at every age!
In 1971, Jack left McGraw Hill to start Garden Way Publishing in Charlotte for Lyman Wood. At Garden Way, he built one of the first publishing houses that extended the movement of homesteading to include energy efficiency by publishing "Designing and Building a Solar House", "The Underground House Book", and "Heat Pumps: An Efficient Heating and Cooling Alternative," among other ground-breaking books - all published in the 1970s.
Jack and Susan founded Williamson Publishing Company, a children's book publishing company focused on 'learning by doing' and empowering kids to follow their curiosity in 1983. Every book was written so that a child, parent, or teacher could explore a topic on many levels. Like everything he did, Jack found joy in all aspects of publishing, loved providing new approaches to learning, and meeting book-people around the world.
Jack is survived by his family, many friends, and business associates. He leaves his loving wife of 56 years, Susan; their daughter, Sarah (Jonathan) of Newton, MA; their son Zachary (Kimberly) of Burlington, VT; their four treasured grandchildren: Aidan, Jackson, Eva and Isaac; his brothers who were lifelong friends, Bruce Williamson (Linda), Chris Williamson (Ginger); his much loved sisters-in-law Gretchen Williamson (Mark), Elaine Dratch (Paul), Jane Soloway (Mitchell Moody); Debra Sobin (Stanley), 12 nieces and nephews who were always dear to his heart, and his cousin Janet Gibbs. He was predeceased by his parents, Harold and Eleanor (Dorsey) Williamson, his brothers Ronald Williamson, and Mark Williamson; and his brother-in-law, Dr. Paul Dratch.
A service of remembrance will be held at Meach Cove Farm, formerly known as All Souls Gathering, at 291 Bostwick Road in Shelburne, VT on November 8, 2025 at 2:00 P.M. with a reception to follow. All who would like to share in this gathering are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jack's name to the Charlotte Public Library, 115 Ferry Road, Charlotte, VT 05445 or the Charlotte Land Trust, P.O. Box 43, Charlotte, VT 05445.