Douglas T. Elliman

Douglas Trowbridge “Trow” Elliman, the founding publisher of The Stowe Reporter, an award-winning weekly, died peacefully on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Boynton Beach, Fla. He was 95.

The cause was old age after a wonderful life, said his wife, Claudia Elliman.

Trow embarked on his career in the heyday of mid-century advertising, working for 10 years in New York City for BBDO and J. Walter Thompson. He began coming to Stowe to ski with college friends, later with Claudia and two babies in tow. They journeyed by train from New York City to Waterbury, lodging at Ten Acres with Darby Chambers or at the Spear Farm. Weekends were filled connecting with a wide range of people from all walks of life who shared their passion for sports, the outdoors and the Vermont landscape.

The pull of Vermont became too strong for just weekends, and in 1960 Trow and Claudia purchased a derelict hillside farm and moved to Stowe full time. Lilacs grew up through the floorboards and mice had the run of the place. They slowly restored the farmhouse and immersed themselves in the community. Trow never stopped appreciating the beauty of the area. He often told his three children that if he had stayed in New York City, he would have died early.

Packing away his gray suits in favor of parkas, heavy wool sweaters and long johns, Trow embraced an active and adventurous life. Skiing was an integral to his daily winter routine. In 1962, Trow became an instructor in the predominantly Austrian- staffed Sepp Ruschp Ski School. Later, even while running the paper, he’d take six runs before starting his workday.

In the early 1960s, Trow and Claudia founded and managed the Stowe Cottage Club, an association of second-home owners who rented their homes to skiers and summer people.

During a cocktail party in 1960, Trow was encouraged by Alex Nimick and other friends to invest in the Stowe Reporter, which, at the time, was a modest two-page mimeographed sheet measuring 8-½ by 11 inches. The friends equally split the $500 for a first installment and a second $500 a month later. In 1965, Trow acquired his partners’ shares, assuming majority ownership of The Stowe Reporter and served as its publisher from 1963 to 1998. Trow understood at a deep level the responsibility of running a weekly newspaper and covering local news. Under his leadership, the newspaper thrived, winning press awards in New England and Vermont.

The Stowe Guide and Magazine followed in the late 1960s and The Valley Reporter, covering the Warren/Waitsfield area, was launched in 1971. Trow sold the latter in 1982.

The famous ski racing section in The Stowe Reporter ramped up when the Vermont Alpine Racing Association (VARA) was formed with Trow’s assistance in 1971. Trow was a founding VARA board member and the first secretary. That same year, he penned the VARA vision statement: To keep ski racing 1st in Vermont and Vermont ski racers 1st in the world. It is still in use today.

The Stowe Reporter became the must-read newspaper for skiing aficionados, with subscriptions from as far away as Europe and Japan. His articles, state-of-the-art graphics and photography helped support the rapidly growing sport and rising ascent of Vermont ski racing on a local, national and international level.

In 1998, Trow sold The Stowe Reporter to Biddle Duke.

In 2011 and 2012, Trow was inducted into the VARA Ski Hall of Fame and the Vermont Ski Hall of Fame.

Throughout his career, Trow’s contributions extended beyond publishing. He was a founding board member of the Stowe Land Trust and the Stowe Tennis Club and involved in the formation of the Hopeful program, a name he coined, for aspiring younger ski racers in the Mount Mansfield Ski Club.

Douglas Trowbridge Elliman was born on Dec. 8, 1927, in New York, N.Y. His mother was Mildred Welte Leisy Elliman and his father was Douglas Trowbridge Elliman. His grandfather, Douglas Ludlow Elliman, was the founder of Douglas Elliman, a large national real estate company. He spent his formative years in Charleston, S.C., but because of health issues was sent away to boarding school at the age of 8 with his dog Mike. (Mike was later expelled for pooping on the headmaster’s rug.)

He attended Aiken Preparatory School in Aiken, S.C., and later St. Paul’s School. He earned his undergraduate degree at Yale University.

In later years, Trow and Claudia became residents of Boynton Beach, but always returned to Stowe for the summer. In Florida, he took up golf with characteristic passion. While attending his grandson’s graduation in Scotland, Trow shot his age (86) at Kings Barn Golf Course.

In addition to his wife of 69 years, Trow is survived by his daughter, Claudia “Dia” Elliman Jenks and her husband, T. Story Jenks, Douglas Trowbridge “Toby” Elliman III and his wife, Leatrice D. Elliman and William Baskerville Elliman; nine grandchildren, T. Story Jenks III and his wife, Elyse Lipman, Fielding W. Jenks and his wife, Carolyn M. Jenks, Penn T. Jenks, Leatrice “Elle” Elliman, D. Trowbridge “Trow” Elliman IV, Lisle D. Elliman, Theodora “Teddy” T. Elliman, H. Gerritsen “Gerrit” Elliman; and two great grandchildren, Ella M. Jenks and Fielding W. Jenks, Jr.

Trow possessed a dry sense of humor and a curious mind. His eclectic interests spanned the works of Capability Brown, the Fibonacci sequence, Bach’s melodies and the art of photography. Yet Trow’s love for carving turns down the Nose Dive never waned.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Stowe Land Trust.

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A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, at 1 p.m., at the Stowe Community Church, Main Street in Stowe.