Know Your Ships
Once again this year, Know Your Ships is the best guide to watching vessels on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
But Tom Manse, creator of the slender classic, would be
amazed to see how his protege, Roger LeLievre, revises the book with
desktop publishing and digital photography.
Tom never used a computer for the book. From 1959, the year he started Know Your Ships in his basement, until his death in 1994, Tom revised his masterwork on old-fashioned legal pads.
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MATT YOCUM
Know Your Ships editor-publisher Roger LeLievre.
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When Roger first met Tom, he had no idea he’d be taking over
the legacy of the compact, highly respected volume. Roger was a
10-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, who had always been
fascinated by big boats and maritime activity. His interest was spurred
by his grandfather, who worked on the docks and liked to watch boats
sail by. That’s when he met Tom, the man who was always shooting photos
of boats, and before long, Tom was teaching the boy photography skills,
even how to develop pictures in a darkroom.
“He would take me with him around the Great Lakes selling
books,” Roger recalls. Tom became Roger’s mentor and got him a job on a
freighter when Roger was 18.
After Tom died, Roger and his mother, Audrey LeLievre,
retired city clerk of Sault Ste. Marie, took over the guide. Roger
edits, designs and markets it; he and Audrey both fill orders. Audrey
handles the business side. A small paid crew and a handful of
volunteers - “dedicated boat nuts, all of them” - help with the project.
The process of compiling the data about boats hasn’t changed
all that much. Published reports, online databases and the shipping
companies themselves remain among the key sources. What has changed is
how it’s all put together - on a computer in Roger’s home.
Despite the effort it takes to do the book, Roger also works full time as entertainment writer for the Ann Arbor News.
“I really do enjoy it,” he says of publishing the guide. “I can’t make a living off it. It’s a niche market.”
Know Your Ships is essential whether you’re a novice
big-boat lover, a longtime boatnerd or are working in the industry. At
$16.95, it’s a steal with interesting features, ease of use and glossy
color photos.
Inside are details on hundreds of Canadian-, U.S.- and
international-flagged cargo ships, tugs, excursion boats and barges.
You’ll find smokestack colors and fleet house flags. To be included, a
vessel must be more than 30 feet long and must be commercially operated
(not a yacht or a tug turned into a yacht).
The 2009 edition will mark the book’s 50th anniversary, and
Roger plans to publish a special volume of images along with the annual
Know Your Ships. A DVD of photos from 50 years is also in
the works. Roger plans to write about how Great Lakes fleets have
changed and to note the 50th anniversary of the opening of St. Lawrence
Seaway (the same year the book launched).
 - Bob Berg
Facing North
Ely, Minnesota, population 3,724, is home (I’ll be honest) to
many of my ancestors. Thus it was with skepticism and excitement that I
turned these pages. Photographer Andrew Goldman and his wife, writer
Ann Goldman, hail from Chicago … what could they say (or show) about a
town at the edge of the wilderness?
The answer is in the faces.
The Goldmans didn’t just pass through one summer to snap a
few shots of the quaint and quirky. They moved in and got to know Ely
for what it is: a town with a lot of heart, quite a few characters and
folks with fierce commitment to each other and their community. The
outstanding photos share space with thoughtful comments that tell how
images were taken and with insightful essays on history, heritage and
hot-button topics.
The large-format, black-and-white photos create portraits
with a “take it or leave it” attitude that can be heartwarming or
unnerving. You look eye-to-eye with shop owners, moms, kids, a mayor,
an historian and dozens of average people. This book could show any
small town, if it were a town with sled dogs, canoe outfitters, Ojibway
activists, a public sauna, an arctic explorer or two and a veterinarian
who may - in the same day - treat a bear hit by a car and a poodle with
arthritis. Even if you never “opened wide” for dentist Frank Udovich,
dipped your toes in Burntside Lake or asked Pat about the hot bologna
at Zup’s grocery, the book is a fine tribute to the many faces of a
small, independent town.
– Siiri Branstrom
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