KDL Recommends

Relates the author’s efforts to eulogize a beloved rabbi who is near death, while at the same time befriending a Detroit pastor who gives spiritual guidance to the poor and homeless, and describes how observing these two different religious leaders rekindled his own faith.

This history details the natural aspects and environment of the Muskegon River in Michigan. Alexander tells the story from the perspective of humans who have influenced it since its creation, and describes how and why it was altered, and changes that might occur in the future.

This historical account of the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway balances the extraordinary scope of this construction project against the damaging biological shift of the marine ecosystems in the area. Alexander, an environmental journalist and author, spent nearly a decade researching the effects the seaway had on the entire Great Lakes region. He provides general readers with a detailed account of the invasive marine species that migrated into these waters through the ballast water tanks of ocean freighters and shows how this ecological disaster is continuing to spread throughout North American waters.

Contains the graphic story of a young Michigan soldier’s experiences during President Woodrow Wilson’s ill-fated 1918 military expedition against the Bolsheviks in the frozen reaches of northern Russia.

A gripping account of America’s first—and largest—school mass murder

From the first European explorers to pioneer settlers to modern-day Michiganians, the Upper Peninsula’s inhabitants have faced weather’s most devastating challenges: extreme snowstorms, heat waves, floods, fires, and more.

An illustrated book about the visionary, risky, and influential business of transporting loaded railroad cars across Lake Michigan

Presents a collection of stories that feature rural and working-class characters trying to cope with life in post-industrial America.

A definitive history of an inconographic piece of American transportation technology captures the remarkable story of the Model T Ford and technological innovations that made its development possible, and of its long-lasting impact on America.

In this powerful story of 19th-century Covert, blacks and whites lived peacefully and equally with shared political power, integrated schools, and interracial marriage. This remarkable Michigan community became and remains racially integrated.

Traces the pivotal ways in which the careers of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird positively influenced the NCAA and the NBA, chronicling the dramatic 1979 NCAA finals and the epic rivalry that rendered college basketball a multibillion-dollar event.

Michigan s first psychiatric facility including the architectural style and plans, building descriptions and history, Legislative Acts regarding the operation and governance, personnel including Medical Directors, historical perspective on the causes of insanity, their treatment and services, noteworthy events and a complete bibliography and appendex.

This political biography explores the life and career of William G. Milliken, Michigan’s 44th and longest-serving governor (1969-1982). Milliken’s Republican tenure reflected his belief in civility, decency, and support for the environment, while also revealing his strength in building effective coalitions, such as with Detroit Mayor Coleman Young. Milliken’s moderate views are frequently at odds with today’s political landscape, making this accessible biography more relevant and inspiring.

From the author of the award-winning Frontier Metropolis, this volume presents a comprehensive visual history of the straits of Mackinac in pre-photographic images.

For many readers, the name Ernest Hemingway conjures up images of the Spanish Civil War, the snows of Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro, or the author’s years in Key West and Cuba. This book, however, focuses on a neglected locale in the great author’s life: the Little Traverse Bay region of northern Michigan, where the young Hemingway and his family vacationed during the first two decades of the 20th century.

The author discusses his twenty-month stint in a Michigan sawmill after he dropped out of college, dicussing his relationship with his fellow lumbermen who, despite low wages, poor weather, and elusive dreams of escape, took pride in their craftmanship.

In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon. His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a more ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice-cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets.

This collection of essays by members of the legal community and academia traces the evolution of Michigan law, exploring the state’s leadership in developing civil rights law, the impact of industrialization, and the history of labor law. In addition to analyzing Michigan law, the highly readable and engaging book serves as an introduction to the history of Michigan politics.

Northern Michigan, as well as the mountains and forests of the American West, play a central role in Jim Harrison’s 10th book of poetry. Contrasting the complexity and absurdity of our current sociopolitical world with the lessons offered in rivers, thickets, the moon, birds, and the companionship of dogs, Harrison’s poetry relishes the art of living and explores life’s mysteries that hold us up and keep us going.

Told in first-person, these stories of a Michigan woman with both Native American and white heritage shed light on the experiences of growing up in an Ojibway community in northern Michigan during the early 1900s.

This detailed and readable account describes the 2001 tragedy on Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm’s farm in Vandalia, a rural Cass County town. Crosslin founded Rainbow Farm in 1993 as a shelter for marijuana smokers, libertarians, disconnected gays and lovers of live music. Local authorities charged Crosslin and Rohm with growing marijuana, used social services to remove Rohm’s son from the farm, and began taking the necessary steps to confiscate the property. Kuipers provides an account of the incident and argues that maximum force is not always morally justified when dealing with the emotional issues surrounding the War on Drugs.

This book explores the enduring mystery and drama surrounding the 1913 Christmas Eve tragedy at Italian Hall in Calumet. After a still-unidentified man falsely cried, “Fire,” more than 70 people, many of them children, were crushed to death in the stairwell amidst the panicked crush to flee the building.

In 1964, Chrysler gave the world a glimpse of the future. They built a fleet of turbine cars—automobiles with jet engines—and loaned them out to members of the public. The fleet logged over a million miles; the exercise was a raging success.

The name Houghton is well-known to Michiganians. It graces a city, a county, a lake, waterfalls, schools, and more. But what made Douglass Houghton such a star? As the fledgling state s first geologist, he found more than any explorer before him from salt springs to gypsum. His reports helped launch a rush to the Keweenaw Peninsula s Copper Country. He also found time to be elected mayor of Detroit and teach at the University of Michigan, all before the age of thirty-six. Here is his story.

A gripping account of the mysterious disappearance of a young nun in a northern Michigan town and the national controversy that followed when she turned up dead and buried in the basement of the church.

Traces the author’s surprise discovery that his late mother had had a sister who was sent away under mysterious circumstances and never mentioned by the family again, his efforts to research his long-lost aunt’s story and whereabouts, and his struggles to understand the secrecy of her existence.

Our People, Our Journey is a landmark history of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, a Michigan tribe that has survived to the present day despite the expansionist and assimilationist policies that nearly robbed it of its identity in the late nineteenth century.

A visual tribute to the degradation of Detroit in the wake of the American auto industry’s decline reveals regional dignity and tragedy as reflected in scenes ranging from windowless grand hotels and barren factory floors to collapsing churches and prairie-grass covered blocks.

Drawing on ordinary moments from her childhood, with settings such as her family’s farmhouse and the local schoolyard, the author employs a gentle touch and poetic details to tell a compelling coming-of-age story in rural Oceana County.

Traces the Vietnam-era rivalry between Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes and his nemesis, coach Bo Schembechler of the University of Michigan, in an account that evaluates the role of political and cultural turmoil in their efforts.

A dramatic fiftieth-anniversary account of the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley on Lake Michigan documents the violent storm that caused the disaster, the survival of four crewmen, and the desperate search-and-rescue mission on the part of frantic loved ones.

In a fit of questionable judgment, consummate indoorsman John Sellers tags along on a journey to search for snakes with his eccentric, aging father—an obsessive fan of Bob Dylan, a giver of terrible gifts, a drinker of boxed wine, a minister- turned-heretic, and, most importantly, the self-designated guardian of the threatened copperbelly water snake.The quest is their fumbling attempt to reconnect.

Celebrates the beauty of the upper Midwest and southern Michigan through a reflection of its nature, people, and traditions, including a tale about a man who makes musical instruments from the wood on his land and the passionate fight for land preservation.

This beautifully illustrated guide to gardening in Michigan describes the state’s native plants, explains how to grow them successfully, and gives tips and advice on solving common gardening issues.

The lilting, poetic language of these essays brings to life the sights, smells and sounds of Michigan’s best-known resource. As they reveal stories of childhood and family, of nature and history, these distinguished writers provide insight into everyday Michigan, and both the gifts and perils along Michigan’s shores and in their own lives.

Taylor’s book serves as a marvelous case study of one of the United States’ premier companies, of which every American quite literally now holds a share.

Heart-touching poetry and prose, filled with clear insight and humor, combine to tell stories of the human condition. The Ann Arbor poet draws from memories of a life well lived, rich in sensory details and filled with vivid emotion.

A photo-driven insider’s look at Bob Seger’s career from the early days to his breakthrough as a world-famous musician.