{{Short description|American glassmaker and potter}} thumb|Factory in Quechee, Vermont

'''Simon Pearce''' (born 1946 in London) is an Irish-American entrepreneur in glassblowing and pottery, who learned his trade in Italy and Kilkenny, Ireland.

== Business development == Pearce located his first US factory, in Quechee, Vermont, in 1981. This site, which is powered hydroelectrically by the Ottauquechee River and is part of the Quechee Historic Mill District, became a showroom, restaurant, and glass-blowing demonstration facility.<ref name=Eiseman>{{cite news|last=Eiseman|first=Alberta|title=Glassmaking Finds a Home in Vermont|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2D71039F932A1575BC0A96E948260&pagewanted=1|access-date=26 February 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date= August 21, 1988 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The ''New York Times'' described him as a prominent American designer of glassware<ref name=Samuels>{{cite news|last=Hooper Samuels|first=Sam|title=Glassmaking in Vermont|url=http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/travel/escapes/24glassmaking.html|access-date=26 February 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 24, 2006 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and his works have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries<ref name=Cullen>{{cite news|last=Cullen|first=Kevin|title=Irish PM gives $2M to the Kennedy Library|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/05/irish_pm_gives.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726045342/http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/05/irish_pm_gives.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 26, 2008|access-date=26 February 2011|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=May 2, 2008}}</ref> and to presenters at the Academy Awards.<ref name=Pollak>{{cite news|last=Pollak|first=Sally|title=Vermont goes to the Oscars|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/burlingtonfreepress/access/1734890791.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+27,+2007&author=Sally+Pollak&pub=The+Burlington+Free+Press&desc=Vermont+goes+to+the+Oscars&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031549/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/burlingtonfreepress/access/1734890791.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+27,+2007&author=Sally+Pollak&pub=The+Burlington+Free+Press&desc=Vermont+goes+to+the+Oscars&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2011|access-date=26 February 2011|newspaper=Burlington Free Press|date=Feb 27, 2007}}</ref>

Pearce's company headquarters is in Windsor, Vermont; another manufacturing facility is in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland.<ref>{{cite web| title = About Us—History| publisher = Simon Pearce Company website| url = http://www.simonpearce.com/category/about+us/history.do| access-date = 2011-12-24}}</ref> His company has several retail outlets in the East of the USA

== Personal life and family == As of 2016, Pearce maintained a home in Hartland, Vermont;<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/t-magazine/travel/simon-pearce-glass-vermont-store-restaurant.html?_r=0|title=A Quaint Vermont Destination for Buying Glass (and Brunch)|last=Neilson|first=Laura|date=2016-06-24|website=New York Times|access-date=August 8, 2016 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> previously, he resided in Norwich, Vermont.<ref name="Branch" /> He and his wife, Pia, have four sons.<ref name=":0" /> Their youngest son is Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder, who was seriously injured in 2009 while training for the Olympics.<ref name=Branch>{{cite news|last=Branch|first=John|title=No Place Like This for Soothing Care |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/sports/04snowboarder.html|access-date=26 February 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 3, 2010 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Kevin is the subject of the 2013 HBO film ''The Crash Reel''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url= http://thecrashreel.com/store/?index.php|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140131083646/http://thecrashreel.com/store/?index.php|url-status= usurped|archive-date= January 31, 2014|title= The Crash Reel |access-date= July 9, 2014}}</ref>

Pearce's book, ''Simon Pearce: Design For Living'' was published in the fall of 2016.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Book Illuminates Simon Pearces' Influences and Design Philosophy |url=http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/new-book-illuminates-simon-pearces-influences-and-design-philosophy/Content?oid=3678914 |last=Kardashian |first=Kirk |date=17 September 2016 |newspaper=Seven Days |location=Burlington, Vermont |access-date=6 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Simon-Pearce-Design-Glenn-Suokko/dp/0847849325|title=Simon Pearce: Design for Living|last=Suokko|first=Glenn|last2=Sherman|first2=John|last3=Pearce|first3=Simon|last4=Downes|first4=Margaret|date=2016-09-13|publisher=Rizzoli|isbn=9780847849321|language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{official|https://www.simonpearce.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Simon}} Category:Glassblowers Category:People from Windsor, Vermont Category:People from Norwich, Vermont Category:1946 births Category:Living people