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Anishinaabe Syndicated: A View from the Rez
by Jim Northrup
Minnesota Historical Society Press
ISBN: 978-0-87351-823-9
$17.95 Softcover
Since 1989, Jim Northrup has written “Fond du Lac Follies,” a column about the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and his adventures from small Sawyer, Minnesota, to New York City, Europe and beyond.
Jim’s splendid, witty voice articulates his Anishinaabe life in our northwoods neighborhood. His family tales describe annual tapping of maple trees, fishing and wild ricing, lessons from the grandchildren and trips to bingo halls and powwows. But lest you think too warm-fuzzy, the former U.S. Marine as easily renders rip-bang scrutiny of local, national and international affairs, tribal political foibles to world events.
This edited collection of 1989-2001 “Follies” entertainingly offers Jim’s astute observations. It’s like sitting down to share a belly laugh with your best story-telling relatives – a great way to enjoy your time. – KLM
Portrait of a Peninsula
Paintings by Paul Grant
Text by Brian Cabell
Up North Press
ISBN: 978-098260431-1
$79.95 Hardcover
Paul Grant came to the Upper Peninsula in 1965 and wisely decided to stay. He made friends with famed author-angler John Voelker and close acquaintance with the U.P. people and north woods. All influenced his art.
Paul’s watercolors are not Yooper, those caricatures perpetrated by some locals and tourists. His depictions are genteel – yes, genteel – and reflective.
Paul’s view is adeptly revealed in his description of ice fishing: “When you’re out there alone, you’re closest to Nature, you’re also closest to yourself. It’s a cleansing. You can clear your mind, you can figure things out. And when you finally come in out of the cold, you’re invigorated. And the thing is, you don’t have to catch any fish out there. If you do, it’s just a bonus.”
Hardly a beer-drinking belly flop on the ice.
Fishing, hunting and spectacular portraits of people real and imagined dominate Paul’s focus and the text by Brian Cabell nicely complements one’s appreciation of Paul’s work.
Some will balk at the price of this coffee-table collection, but think of it as an investment in a deeper view of U.P. life. – KLM
Lake Superior Scenic Adventures
Volume 2 – South Shore
by Bradley A. Plets
Plets Express (www.pletsexpress.com)
$19.95 DVD
This is the second in the Plets’ series of visual travelogues along Lake Superior, this covering Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, west to Superior, Wisconsin. Crisp images are enhanced by narration of historic and current details – plus good facts about passing freighters. You can sit for a two-hour tour through 16 chapters or my advice would be to enjoy a chapter at a time. You can thus travel with the narrator along and soothing background music or choose natural sound, mainly wind, waves, boats and birds. Each viewing, I find story ideas and you will find either pleasant revisiting of places you’ve been or a check list of places to go. – KLM