1997 Read Michigan Selections

Read Michigan, a list of recommended books about Michigan or by Michigan authors, was established in 1991 in cooperation with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association and the Historical Society of Michigan. 

The Great Lakes Book Club selected the books for this year and the Secretary of State announced it in April 1997. Following is the 1997 Read Michigan list.

The Bird In The Waterfall: A Natural History of Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes, by Jerry Dennis, illustrated by Glenn Wolff, Harper Collins Publishers. 1996. Two Michigan artists celebrate the wonders of water, and appeal for protection of this most precious of the earth's resources.

Hiawatha's Brothers: A Wildlife Retrospective, by Louis J. Verme, Avanti Publishing, 1996. A former biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources provides a richly illustrated chronicle of the natural history of the Upper Peninsula.

A History of the African American People: The History, Traditions, and Culture of African Americans, consultant editors, James Oliver Horton and Louis E. Horton, Wayne State University Press. 1995. This sometimes tragic, sometimes inspiring national story includes extensive references to Detroit, including the Motown enterprise that launched such singing groups as the Temptations and the Supremes.   

Kitchigamig Anishinabeg: The People of the Great Lakes, by Bucko Teeple, photography by Alan R. Kamuda. Saulte Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. 1994. In words and color portraits, this book tells of a vanishing race that never disappeared and a tribe that has become the largest employer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

A Legacy of Champions: The Story of the Men Who Built the University of Michigan Football, by Joe Falls, Bob Wojnowski, John U. Bacon, Angelique S. Chengelis, and Chris McCosky, CTC Productions and Sports. 1996. Memorable stories of three coaches who built the foundation of UM football - Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, and Bo Schembechler.

Michigan Flora, by Edward G. Voss, Cranbrook Institute of Science. 1972-? Three-volume set. The third volume is 622 pages with 771 distribution maps, 266 line drawings, and 53 color photographs and is part of a series that includes volumes in 1972 and 1985.

Michigan on Fire, by Betty Sodders, Thunder Bay Press. 1997. From October 8, 1871 - known as "the day Michigan burned"-through 1947, this well-researched book chronicles fires that swept from shore-to-shore across Michigan, leaving hundreds dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Old Roads of the Midwest, by George Cantor, University of Michigan Press, Michigan & Great Lakes Series. 1997. Rich history and scenic photographs from the trails used by Native Americans, pioneers and farmers from the Copper Country, to the Straits of Mackinaw, through the Lower Peninsula, as well as the back-roads of Ohio.

Philip Hart: The Conscience of the Senate, by Michael O'Brien, Michigan State University Press. 1995. When a Senate office building was named after Hart, columnist Mary McGroy said if his qualities could be built "into the walls, we would have a Senate that would astound the world with its civility and enlightenment."

Ships of the Great Lakes: 300 Years of Navigation, by James P. Barry. Thunder Bay Press, revised & expanded edition 1996. (First published in 1973 by Howell-North Books). From the Indian canoe to the largest ships, three centuries of marine growth and adventure by an author who was named Great Lakes Historian of the Year by the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Updated 12/20/2019