A Childhood Marked by Change
When I sat down with Melinda Moulton to hear her story, I knew it would be powerful. What I didn’t expect was how deeply it would stir my own reflections — especially as I step into my 50th year.
Melinda grew up in a very different time. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, divorce carried heavy stigma. Women who raised children alone were judged harshly. Pregnancies outside of marriage were hidden in shame.
At just twelve years old, Melinda lost her mother to peritonitis. Today, doctors treat it with antibiotics and surgery. Back then, in a rural setting with limited resources, it was often fatal. For Melinda, it meant the loss of safety, stability, and the comfort of a mother at the time she needed it most.
Loss and Resilience in the 1960s
Even as a child, Melinda found a way to channel her pain. During a trip to Mexico, her parents told her they were divorcing. At that moment, while watching divers leap into the waters of Acapulco, she decided she would become a cliff diver.
That single choice became her metaphor for life: dive into the unknown instead of breaking under the weight of sorrow.
Leaping into Science and Love
By the early 1970s, Melinda worked at Harvard in James Watson’s microbiology lab. Watson, known as one half of “Watson and Crick,” had helped discover the double helix structure of DNA. His lab was buzzing with young scientists exploring the foundations of modern genetics.
For Melinda, stepping into that world was a leap in itself. She wasn’t just working in science — she was standing in the middle of a revolution.
It was also where she met Rick, the man who would capture her heart and become her lifelong partner. Together they left Harvard and built a new life in Vermont.
Building a Home, Building a Legacy
In 1974, with only $9,000 from a small inheritance, Melinda and Rick bought land and built a stone home by hand. They followed the blueprint laid out by Scott and Helen Nearing in their book Living the Good Life. The Nearings inspired a whole generation to live simply and sustainably, and Melinda and Rick took their words to heart.
The house was more than shelter. It became the foundation of their family and their love. They raised children there, worked side by side, and poured their values into stone and mortar.
Transforming Burlington’s Waterfront
Melinda’s story didn’t stop at building a home. She became one of the visionaries behind Burlington’s waterfront redevelopment. Along with Lisa Steele, she helped turn an industrial, neglected shoreline into a sustainable, vibrant community space.
As CEO of Main Street Landing, Melinda pushed for environmental design, green building practices, and social responsibility. She worked for four decades to shape not only buildings, but also a model of business rooted in values.
The Fire Still Burns
Even now, Melinda hasn’t slowed down. She writes essays, works on her memoir, and continues to fight for universal health care. She hosts Moments with Melinda, where she shares conversations with change makers. And she’s still side by side with Rick after 55 years of love and partnership.
Her grandson Rowan, a non-speaking autistic poet, has also inspired her. Together with Rick, she helped bring his poetry to film, giving his voice space to be heard in the world.
What Melinda Teaches Me at 50
As I listened to her story, I couldn’t help but compare her era to mine. She came of age during the Vietnam War, the rise of feminism, and the birth of the environmental movement. I came of age in a world shaped by 9/11, the digital revolution, a global pandemic, and new reckonings on race, gender, and truth.
Different times. Different battles. But the same lesson: change is relentless.
Melinda teaches me that it isn’t about the size of the cliff in front of you. It’s about the courage to dive. At 50, I see that my cliffs look different than hers. But I still have to leap.
Gratitude for Melinda
I feel such love and gratitude for Melinda — for all she has seen, for the battles she fought, and for the gifts she has given the world. Her legacy is not only the buildings she shaped but the compassion, courage, and vision she poured into everything she touched.
So here’s to Melinda. For reminding us to leap. For showing us how to build. For proving that change, no matter how painful, can become something beautiful.
With love,
Heather ❤️
