Traverse City Record-Eagle

Books

October 18, 2008

On the Shelf: A look at Alden history

By AL PARKER

Anyone who's ever circled Torch Lake on a sunny autumn day can attest to the natural beauty that embraces this most beautiful body of water. Sun-dappled trees offer splashes of brilliant color in October, yielding oh-too-soon to the rains and winds of November.

And no Torch Lake community is more vibrant and welcoming than Alden, a charming little village that hugs the eastern shore of the lake just north of the Antrim-Kalkaska county line.

Moving to Alden five years ago, Priscilla Miller has written "Reflection at the Water's Edge: An Illustrated History of the Alden Area" (Priscilla of Alden Publishing, 224 pages). Using oral histories and interviews with natives, longtime residents and "resorters," Miller has compiled stories that look at Torch Lake life from the Stone Age to the present. With dozens of photos, this book is packed with interesting chapters in Alden's colorful history, including how it got its current name, who pulled off the big bank heist and more. Anyone interested in readable, entertaining northern Michigan history will want this one on their book shelf.

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Another Alden resident, Davie Looman, has written "Shempi: Earning the Right to be Called Her Master" (Infinity Publishing, 156 pages). As an insurance damage appraiser, Looman often drove 50,000 miles a year. Those long trips were made bearable thanks to the companionship of his beloved sheltie, Shempi. This book tells of their travels and travails, plus Looman's early life and his love for sports cars.

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"Pacowatomee" (PublishAmerica, 84 pages) by Michael LaPan is the second tale in a trilogy about two grandparents who enjoy teaching their grandchildren basic life skills. Although fiction, it's based on a true story about a grandfather who takes his four grandchildren into the woods on their first hunt. It quickly turns into a survival situation. This is a very slim book that will appeal mostly to young readers.

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Carolyn Kuerth has written a science fiction tale, "Spirit People Eastern Expedition" (PublishAmerica, 290 pages). Earth is a dying planet, so a search is launched to find another planet suitable for settlement. A company assures the settlers that the new planet is suitable, but when they arrive the settlers learn that their new home is poisonous. The company had betrayed them for profit. What follows is a tale of adventure and discovery. Science fiction fans might want to check this one out.

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Ethnobiologist and conservationist Gary Paul Nabhan offers "Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Vavilov's Quest to End Famine" (Island Press, 230 pages). Nabhan asserts that one way to cope with problems of the world's food supply is to provide traditional farms with a diversity of seeds that will adapt to climate changes in a more rapid and resilient way than elite plant breeders can do on their own. Nabhan travels in the footsteps of his muse, Russian botanist Nikolay Vavilov, who was jailed by Stalin and, ironically, starved to death in a dank prison.

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"Great Architecture of Michigan" (Wayne State University Press, 224 pages) by author John Gallagher and photographer Balthazar Korab is an impressive coffee table book that pays homage to the state's most impressive buildings. Northern Michigan buildings featured in this beautiful publication include the Grand Hotel and the Governor's Summer Residence on Mackinac Island, the Port Betsie Lighthouse in Frankfort, the Chicago Club in Charlevoix, the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Manistee, the D.H. Day Farm near Glen Haven, the Richardi House in Bellaire, the Traverse City State Hospital and the Perry Hannah House in Traverse City. For anyone interested in Michigan's unique architectural legacy, this will be an interesting resource.

Al Parker, of Traverse City, is an award-winning writer and lifelong bibliophile. He can be reached at aparker48@aol.com

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