Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/tag/great-lakes-books/)
By STEVEN MAIER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Admirers of architect Wirt Rowland finally have the biography they were looking for. It was a long time coming. Rowland was arguably the premier skyscraper architect of the early 20th century. He designed prominent buildings around the country for years. Yet his name is hardly known outside of architectural circles, and no one had bothered to write a book about the man.
By NATASHA BLAKELY
Capital News Service
LANSING — Power is clear in every curve and edge of the freighters that cut through the blue-gray waters of the Great Lakes. It’s a familiar sight to those living within view of the shipping industry that plays such a key role in the region’s economy. And it’s one that fascinated Frank Boles, who grew up in Lincoln Park and fed his interest in large cargo ships during childhood trips to Bishop Park on the Detroit River. “I realized early on that I did not have the stomach to be a good sailor,” Boles said. “Roller coasters persuaded me of that.
By NATASHA BLAKELY
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michael Schumacher was born and raised in Wisconsin and has been living right by the shore of Lake Michigan all of his life. “The lake means a lot to me so I won’t take it for granted, ever,” said Schumacher, 62. “I tried to read a lot of the history, learn as much as I can. The more I can learn the better, and I’ve learned the five Great Lakes have separate personalities; they’re all different in their own way.”
He should know. Schumacher recently wrote “Torn in Two: The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell and One Man’s Survival on the Open Sea.” It is his 13th published book, and the fourth in his series on Great Lakes shipwrecks.