Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Sunday

January 6, 2013

Fishtown, Driscoll among 2013 Michigan Notable Books

From staff reports ----

LELAND — "Fishtown: Leland, Michigan's Historic Fishery" published by the Fishtown Preservation Society has been named a 2013 Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan.

It's one of several books with ties to northern Lower Michigan nominated for the annual honor through the Library of Michigan. Each year, 20 books published in the previous calendar year that are about Michigan or the Great Lakes region, or are written by a Michigan author, are selected for the honor.

"This program successfully shines the spotlight on the number of talented writers and illustrators we have in Michigan," said State Librarian Nancy Robertson. "These books help to tell Michigan's story. Our 'home' is a place where history, talent and having special connection to our cultural heritage is greatly valued."

This year's Michigan Notable Books selection committee included representatives from the Library of Michigan; the Archives of Michigan; Cooley Law School; Grand Rapids Public Library; Lansing City Pulse; Michigan Center for the Book; Michigan Humanities Council; and Schuler Books & Music.

"Fishtown: Leland Michigan's Historic Fishery" by Laurie Kay Sommers tells the story of Leland's past and present through remembrances of the commercial fishermen and ferry captains who have worked out of Fishtown since 1900.

"In writing and researching this book, I especially enjoyed the opportunity to sit on the Fishtown docks or at kitchen tables throughout the community as people shared their remembrances and experiences," Sommers said in a Fishtown Preservation Society press release.

Also selected was "World of a Few Minutes Ago" by award-winning author Jack Driscoll of Interlochen. Currently teaching for Pacific University in Oregon, Driscoll previously helped found the creative writing program at Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he spent about 33 years on the faculty.

"World of a Few Minutes Ago" offers 10 stories from the point of view of characters between the ages of 14 and 77, all set in northern Michigan.

"The Skeleton Box" by Bryan Gruley, third in the author's Starvation Lake mysteries, was another honoree.

So was "Kirtland's Warbler" by William Rapai, exploring the history as well as relationships between the warbler, its environment, human protectors and state and federal policies.

Other titles selected for 2013 honors include:

"American Poet: A Novel" by Jeff Vande Zande

"The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan" by J. Alan Holman

"Balthazar Korab Architect of Photography" by John Comazzi

"Bear Has a Story to Tell" by Phillip C. Stead

"The Boy Governor: Stevens T. Mason and the Birth of Michigan Politics" by Don Faber

"Canada" by Richard Ford

"Death Dance of a Butterfly" by Melba Joyce Boyd

"Detroit City Is the Place to Be" by Mark Binelli

"Detroit's Historic Places of Worship" compiled and edited by Marla O. Collum, Barbara E. Krueger and Dorothy Kostuch, photographs by Dirk Bakker and forward by John Gallagher

"Dust to Dust: A Memoir" by Benjamin Busch

"Imperfect" by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown

"Ink Trails" by Jack Dempsey and Dave Dempsey

"Michigan's Historic Railroad Stations" by Michael Hodges

"Mighty Miss Malone" by Christopher Paul Curtis

"Summer of '68" by Tim Wendel

"Woman like Me" by Bettye LaVette

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