September 1, 2020 Post #58

Quote for the Day: "Once in Detroit, Burr took the Lodge downtown, got off at the Jefferson exit and drove past the Renaissance Center, which hadn't renaissanced anything." The Pink Pony by Charles Cutter.

The King of Confidence: A Tale Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch
by Miles Harvey

I don't know of a more interesting story or fascinating man in Michigan's history than James Strang.  And I can't imagine a better book will ever be written about Strang and his place in Michigan and American history than this marvelously compelling biography. The future emperor was born in western New York in what has been called the "Burnt Over District" because of the religious fervor that swept the area and from which new religions were born including Mormonism. The future monarch left New York in the early 1840s a failed man who had served as postmaster, lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a real estate agent who was arrested and jailed for selling a non-existent Ohio farm. Within a few years, the avowed atheist would claim to have received a letter from Joseph Smith naming Strang to succeed Smith as head of the Mormon church and soon thereafter proclaimed himself King of Earth and Heaven.

Harvey writes that as a youth Strang dreamed of doing great things including marrying Princess Victoria and thought Napolean was heroic, especially after reading a book that praised his hero for his trickery, falsehoods, cunning, and the ability to mislead his followers. The man seems to have held his boyhood hero's shameful qualities dear as he battled for control of the Mormon church claiming an angel appeared before him saying he was to succeed Smith. To further his claim Strang unearthed metal plates only he could translate that, surprise, named him the new leader of the Mormons.

After leading his flock to Beaver Island, Strang adorned in a paper crown and carrying a wooden scepter announced his kingship and became "master of every human thought and action" of his followers. He encouraged his flock to steal from gentiles, it was called "consecrating" needed supplies. He forced the island's gentiles to convert or leave, practiced piracy raiding towns on the Michigan coastline, took his first polygamous wife in secrecy, and became a state legislator in a rigged election, and finally was assassinated by two men of his congregation. The author does a masterful of detailing Strang's remarkable life.

Equally important in recording Strang's life is the author's ability to place it in the contemporary context of America's mores and culture. It was an era that produced many strange and remarkable characters. Utopias sprang up like weeds. Self-made preachers plowed the land with new ideologies, and the author notes one self-anointed preacher had 50,000 ardent followers. Crime had become epidemic and it was estimated 50% of all paper currency was counterfeit. Cheaters, thieves, and scam artists flourished. It was the age of quick buck confidence men who were so ubiquitous the term "confidence man" was coined. It was an era made for Strang, the confidence man.

Not the best biography I've read this year but the best I've read in the last three or four.

 

The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch by Miles Harvey. Little Brown, 2020, $29.



Hungry for the Harbor Country: Recipes and Stories from the Coast of Southwest Michigan

by Lindsay Navama

This beautifully produced cookbook is filled with unusual, intriguing, and tempting recipes based on locally raised (Berrian County) ingredients that are complimented by drool-inducing color photographs of the finished dish. The author has lived in both L.A. and Chicago and worked as a recipe developer, private chef, and owner of a boutique bakery. To get away from the hustle, bustle, and crowds of "The City of Big Shoulders" the couple started driving south around Lake Michigan to the pastoral, scenic, and the laid-back lifestyle found in Berrian County. It didn't take more than a few trips before they bought a house near New Buffalo. The book was inspired by the memorable meals shared with new friends the author and her husband made in their first 12 months in New Buffalo. The new friends included local farmers, chefs, restaurateurs, and neighbors.

The author introduces each chapter with a short essay about food, her life in New Buffalo, and the many opportunities to find a wide variety of locally raised ingredients. Many of the recipes include a highlighted "Tips for Success" or a note entitled "Freestyle" that are suggestions for starting with the recipe and then improvising. Most recipes are adaptable for those on a gluten-free and/or dairy-free diet.

The first recipe I tried was Brown Sugar Chili Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash, Pecans, and Dried Cherries. The brussels sprouts and cut up squash are tossed in the brown sugar and olive oil then roasted in a 400 degree oven.  It became an instant family favorite. Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies was the second recipe I tried. The recipe called for Southern Comfort soaked raisins which I didn’t have and instead used dried cherries. Best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever made. The on-deck recipe is Roasted Acorn Squash Bowls with Apple Bacon Pistachio Stuffing.

Most of the recipes are enticingly different, from Key Lime Cookies, and Cherry Cherry Chocolate Popsicles, to Chocolate Blueberry Pancakes with Blueberry Bourbon Syrup. Even old standards have an added twist. The Hot Chocolate is sweetened with bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup and topped with cookie dough flavored marshmallows while the pumpkin pie recipe begins with roasting a pumpkin, and the recipe for S’mores has directions for making your own graham crackers. I am not a totally lazy cook but the recipe for Oven Baked Fried Chicken seems imposing with 23 ingredients and no matter how much I like Shepherd’s Pie the recipe’s 35-plus ingredients is daunting.

Those lucky enough to own this wonderful cookbook will find themselves returning to it time and again when they want to grace a breakfast, lunch, or dinner with a truly memorable dish.

Hungry for Harbor Country: Recipes and Stories from the Coast of Southwest Michigan by Lindsay Navama. Midway and Agate Imprint. 2020. $34.95

Bear Bones: Murder at Sleeping Bear Dunes

by Charles Cutter

This is the third fine mystery novel featuring attorney Burr Lafayette. He used to be a high priced lawyer in a powerful Detroit law firm where he never handled a criminal case. He quit the firm, got divorced, and bought a building in East Lansing for his new office. The building turned into a money pit making it difficult to make child support and alimony payments. Although his office is downstate most of his business takes him to northern Michigan. The first Burr Lafayette mystery was set on Mackinac Island, the second on the Au Sable River, and the third in and around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

This blog reviewed Cutter's second Lafayette mystery, "The Gray Drake," a few months ago, and gave it high marks. In fact, I liked it so much I got a hold of a new edition of the "Pink Pony," the first in the series, and read it just a few weeks ago. It takes place on Mackinac Island at the end of the Detroit to Mackinac Island sailboat race. That night the captain of one of the boats was murdered in the Pink Pony bar. The odds on favorite to be convicted for the crime asks Burr to defend him. Lafayette has never represented anyone charged with murder but reluctantly agrees because he needs the money, and so the fun begins.  Burr, who's aunt calls him "an idiot savant lawyer," is clever, sharp-tongued, smart, often funny, and relentless as a pit bull in the courtroom.

In"Bear Bones," Burr is representing Helen Lockwood, the owner of a large orchard that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is determined to buy and add to the park. Lockwood is just as determined not to sell. The mystery opens with Burr trying to have his client pronounced dead. Helen went sailing a year ago and disappeared. Her boat was found abandoned and drifting off Sleeping Bear Dunes. Her husband has decided to sell the orchard but can't until Helen is officially declared dead. The plot ratchets up several notches when her body is discovered buried on South Manitou Island. With a bullet hole in her skull, it is clear she was murdered. Her husband Tom is charged with Helen's murder when it's learned he took the ferry to South Manitou the night she disappeared and forensics finds Helen was shot with Tom's gun. There is a body, a murder weapon, a motive, and a prime suspect. Lafayette is once again talked into defending a man charged with murder.

Cutter's mysteries always build to a tense, exciting, and unpredictable trial. There are numerous surprises and plot twists that keep readers on the edge of their chairs. The characters are always well-drawn, and the author seems to delight in portraying the idiosyncrasies of the judges and prosecutors Lafayette spars with. Cutter's mysteries are sure bets for their high entertainment value and fine depictions of northern Michigan's unique beauty. Am I a fan? Guilty as charged.

The Pink Pony: Murder on Mackinac Island by Charles Cutter. Mission Point Press, 2020 ed. $16.95
Bear Bones: Murder at Sleeping Bear Dunes by Charles Cutter. Mission Point Press, 2020, $16.95



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