HARDWICK – Parker Ladd was born in Hardwick in 1928. He lived on West Church Street, just down from the library, which became a refuge for him. He read voraciously and went on to major in English at the University of Vermont. Following his graduation from UVM, he served in the United States military. He spent time in Sweden as a bookseller before returning to the United States to begin his career in publishing in Los Angeles. Soon thereafter, he relocated to New York, where he became a successful executive at Scribners. He then moved to the American Association of Publishers and rose to its presidency. His career in publishing spanned 35 years.
His life partner was Arnold Scaasi, a New York fashion designer who designed for Hollywood stars and first ladies. Together, Scaasi and Ladd were regular attendees at the city’s most exclusive social events. Ladd and Scaasi wed in 2011, when the Marriage Equality Act was passed in New York. They shared homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Quogue, N.Y. They were together for more than 50 years.
The two men, along with columnist Liz Smith, played a crucial role in expanding Literacy Partners, a nonprofit organization that promotes literacy among parents, caregivers and children. In 1986, they organized the first Literacy Partners Evening of Readings, a grand annual gala at which well-known authors were invited to read, and students from the program shared their successes. One article quoted Ladd as believing that reading was the definition of civilization. Over the years, Literacy Partners has raised more than $37 million.
Within that high society world, Scaasi and Smith were the celebrities, but Ladd “was the glue that held them together,” said Jane Freidman, one time CEO of Harper-Collins. It fell to Ladd to attract top authors to the gala. Following Ladd’s death in 2017, Anthony Tassi, the CEO of Literacy Partners, remembered him as “charming, elegant and uncommonly generous of spirit, a walking advertisement for the literary lifestyle. A lifelong bookworm from Vermont, he read nonstop.”
Ladd died at age 89. Shortly after he died, his executor called the Jeudevine to report that Ladd had bequeathed almost half a million dollars to the library. Trustees and staff learned about a man who had last lived in Hardwick more than 70 years ago, who never forgot the town where he grew up or the library that was his refuge. Thanks to his generosity, the town now enjoys an expanded library that sits at the heart of the community, fully equipped to meet the needs of the twenty-first century. At the heart, the Jeudevine is here to serve as a sanctuary for patrons, as it once did for a young Parker Ladd, and to encourage all to embrace his lifelong appreciation of books and devotion to reading.
