Quote for the Day: "Saginaw River." The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Great Lakes. 1989. On a map of northern Michigan, the Au Sable is mislabeled as the Saginaw River.
Reviews
Trout Water: A Year on the Au Sable by Josh Greenberg.
Years ago, the young Josh Greenburg began tying flies at the famous Gates Au Sable Lodge. Today he owns the lodge, writes extensively about fly fishing, and produces a popular online fishing report that receives 40,000 page-views a month. Admittedly, a wee bit more than this blog receives.
This collection of essays recounts a year of fishing the Au Sable and other nearby Michigan streams. It is a passionate and beautifully written tribute to a river the author calls the "perpetual beguiler." For this retired fly-fisherman, who blew a knee in the Maple River, the author perfectly captures the endlessly intoxicating rituals, attractions, beauty, and near spiritual experience found in the middle of a river in chest-high waders, and adorned with arcane accoutrements while being outsmarted by a fish.
Greenberg's essays aren't instructional or even faintly how-to but one can't read this book without learning a good fly fisherman needs good instincts, an encyclopedic knowledge of trout flies, insect hatches, trout habits, and how to read a river and out think a trout. Reading the book made me realize I would never have been even a proficient fly fisherman. But the thought neither distracted from the enjoyment of Greenberg's fine essays nor left me regretting I hadn't been a better fly fisherman. Most importantly he captures the joy of being out on a river with a fly rod in hand and easily conveys the adrenalin rush even life-long fly fishermen feel when a trout hits their fly.
Fly-fishermen will love this book and those who have never waded a stream in search of trout may well be drawn to giving it a try. Fair warning -- it can prove to be addictive.
Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679 by Steve and Kathie Libert.
The first European ship to sail the Great Lakes, the Griffon, was built above Niagara Falls by LaSalle and set off on it's maiden voyage in 1679. It reached the islands strung between Wisconsin's Door Peninsula and Michigan's Garden Peninsula where it loaded a cargo of furs and buffalo skins. La Salle ordered the Griffon to return to Lake Erie while he and his expeditionary party left the ship in search of the Mississippi River. The Griffon departed what is now known as Washington Island on September 18, 1679, and was never seen again. The fate of the Griffon has long been one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Great Lakes. Until now.
Steve became interested, if not obsessed with the mystery of the Griffon in school and found in Kathie a wife who shared his passion for solving the 340-year-old mystery. This book is not a straight forward narrative history of the Liberts' years of searching for La Salle's lost ship but is a thorough coverage of their detailed research. They mined contemporary accounts of the Griffon's maiden voyage and quote significant eyewitness accounts of the ship's movements in the islands south of Garden Peninsula. Reports by French archeologists, and French experts on the history of shipbuilding are included in the book. The authors' recount their years of research and how they finally narrowed the area of the ship's final resting spot.
All the above resulted in the discovery, in 2013, of a very old bow strip stuck in the lake bottom. Michigan experts claimed it was nothing but a large stake for holding fishing nets while the French experts said it was the bow strip of a ship from the late 1600s. The bow strip was located in shallow water which meant if it did come from the Griffon the wreckage could have been widely spread over three centuries of shifting winter ice. Then, in 2018 Steve discovered a large section of a broken hull from a very old ship. Archeologists and experts in French shipbuilding history dove the wreck and concluded the techniques used in building the hull and its design were all consistent with a French ship built in the same period as the Griffon.
Readers are left to their own conclusions after reading this fascinating and important contribution to Michigan and Great Lakes history. The Liberts' believe they have solved the mystery of the Griffon and so will most readers. Complimenting the reports and narrative are a multitude of maps, photographs, and drawings.
Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679 by Steve and Kathie Libert. Mission Point Press, 2021, $24.99.
Lost Flint by Gary Flinn.
Being a born and bred Flintite who grew up in Civic Park and worked three decades in Flint, this book sparked many conflicting feelings and memories, but more of that later. The book begins with a thumbnail sketch of Flint's history, development, and descriptions of its earliest significant buildings. The main body of the book is divided into three major divisions: Flint's Growth, Flint's Decline, and Hope For the Future.
The first two parts list buildings, neighborhoods, churches, industries, media, schools, shops, commercial strips that no longer exist, stand empty, have been replaced, or vanished. The author gives a short but informationally rich description of the buildings, parks, industries, etc. and the cause for their demise and/or reincarnation. I was surprised that earlier Farmers' Markets were not mentioned, and neither was the Women's Hospital. I only know of the latter because I was born there. Uncle Bob's Diner is included in the long list of closed eateries but personally I thought it deserved at least a few short words in the narrative. The book bought back fond memories of Hubbard's Hardware, Smith Bs., Angelo's (where community leaders and hourly workers ate side-by-side with the poor and homeless), and the Flint Amusement Park. Bad memories include the terribly ill-conceived Auto World, and the shoddily built Genesee Towers that began crumbling to the street after 40 years. The building was bought by an opportunist for half a million and sold to Flint for demolition for 8 million. Then there was the reminder why I never saw a Black family or child in Civic Park in the 50s. A deed restriction barred anyone from the neighborhood who was "not wholly of the white or Caucasian race." Disgraceful, and what odd wording: Did it leave some residents thinking you could be either white or Caucasian? The third part, "Hope For the Future" is brief but encouraging.
As a Flintite I object to calling the city's closed and demolished GM buildings "lost." This was an abandonment of the city were GM was born. and thousands "lost" middle-class jobs. The author lists 8 GM plants that were closed. Buick City alone employed over 29,000 workers. And to add insult to injury GM tore down many of the plants so they couldn't be taxed and as a parting gift left the people of Flint acres of toxic-laced land. An appendix lists FIFTY lost schools thirty of which closed since the year 2000. My guess is that the 8 closed factories had a lot to do with the 30 closed schools.
Obviously, I was emotionally impacted by this book, and I suspect many other Flint natives will have the same reaction. The book is also a unique look at the Rust Belt and Flint mirrors the fate of many other one-industry communities. The book is complimented by numerous historical photographs and an appendix of lost schools, bars, and restaurants.
Lost Flint by Gary Flinn. History Press, 2021, $21.99.
Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel by Mike Fornes
Every season 150,000 heads hit beds in this extraordinary hotel famous for its magnificent setting overlooking the Straits of Mackinac. The unique and unforgettable setting on a magical island is equaled by the hotel's extraordinary level of hospitality, ambience, dining experience, and amenities in a building named a national historic landmark. If you haven't had the pleasure of spending a night in the Grand Hotel this slim book with loads of photographs and expert commentary is a fine introduction. Even those who have stayed at the hotel will find a new appreciation for the Grand from the author who has covered the hotel for years as a print and media reporter and an the operator of a Straits guide service.
Chapters include landscape, decor, food service, special rooms and suites, landscape, special amenities, off-season work, the two movies filmed at the hotel, and a recounting of the famous who have stayed at the Grand. Each chapter is preceded by a short introduction followed by scores of photos illustrating the high points of the chapter. Of special interest to this reader is the photos of the First Ladies Suites which far outnumber Presidential Suites. I was fascinated by the annual amount of ongoing work of repairing, renovating, and remodeling the building each winter. Given the chance, the one activity I would like to experience is to be given free access to the kitchen and watch a staff of about a hundred prepare as many as 4,000 meals a day. Oh, and some of the kitchen's recipes rewritten for a dinner for two.
This is a grand introduction to a one-of-a-kind hotel that will be enjoyed by those who never spent a night in one of its rooms as well as those who have.
Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel by Mike Fornes. Arcadia Publishing, 2021, $23.99.
On the Trails of Northern Michigan: A Guide For All Seasons by Michael Terrell.
A regular columnist for the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the author has gathered a collection of his columns on the best hiking, biking, and waterway trails in Northern Michigan. The book is organized by seasons and includes 70 trails from the familiar to the new and unexpected. Whether it is the only waterfall in the lower peninsula or a preserve containing a nature megaphone in which one sits and listens to the sounds of nature that seem magically amplified by a beautiful, hand-made wooden megaphone.
Each location includes a photograph and a page or two of description followed by a page of Terrell's Trail Notes. The notes provide driving directions, a guide to the length and difficulty of the trails, hours and rules (if any), and highlights not to be missed. Symbols at the top of the page indicate activities allowed from hiking, biking, fishing, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, canoeing, and camping, to wildflowers and birdwatching. The last two are guesses because there is no reference guide to the symbols.
I suspect that even the area's local outdoor lovers will find very appealing places they have not yet visited or know about. Occasional northern Michigan tourists who want to spend a day experiencing and sampling the area's natural attractions will have a difficult time deciding which to choose from. I would suggest that people unfamiliar with the area take along a book of county maps because directions are often very brief.
On the Trails of Northern Michigan: A Guide For All Seasons by Michael Terrell. Mission Point Press, 2021, $24.95.
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