"Great" Books on the Great Lakes

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I try not to be a keeper of "things" and admire the philosophy of Chris McCandless, the inspiring but tragic figure whose life was chronicled by author Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild.  McCandless wanted to experience life and eschewed material possesions.

On being told by his parents that they were buying him a car he responded, "I don't want any things."

It's hard to not collect things in a society that constantly promotes consumption.

Books are things that are easy to collect but only a few have lasting value to me and I donate most elsewhere after they are read. The exception, my Great Lakes books.  I often return to them to read favorite passages and many times use them as a reference to research these commentaries.

They also came in handy recently as I volunteered to help a colleague put together a Great Lakes reading list.

The colleague leads an environmental not for profit and is developing an introduction to water course for budding local activists. She wants to include a for further reading component as part of the curriculum for those who want to dig deeper. I jumped at the chance to make recommendations.

So off to the closet where I keep my books and it was a pleasure to revisit favorites. My intent that day was to quickly type out a list and send it off, but no such luck. I immediately became immersed and spent an afternoon reading passages and discovering things I had missed or forgotten.

Herewith, highlights of a few on my Great Lakes list (in no particular order) with a request that you add your favorites, or tell me what you liked or didn't like about mine.

The Living Great Lakes - Jerry Dennis

A rich work based on knowledge, experience, and from the heart, Dennis captures the history, culture, and ecology of the Great Lakes and manages to incorporate those components into a sailing adventure. One of my favorite passages tells about conditions on Lake Superior the day the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, and the lesser known survival story of a group of fishermen that November day. This is a Great Lakes book for the ages. 

Great Lakes Water Wars - Peter Annin

Annin starts by putting us all on notice that our vast Great Lakes are finite and vulnerable to greed and consumption, and he illustrates that by telling the story of the draining of the once seemingly limitless Aral Sea. It can happen here is the message. 

GLWW  tells of the political tug of wars over water and takes us behind the scenes into the sausage making that became the Great Lakes Compact.  If you want the inside story of how a conservation document could create a one industry (bottled water) loophole, it's there.

I interviewed Annin on the book's release and came away with the feeling that he didn't just write the book, he lived it. GLWW is starting to be a bit dated by recent events but that doesn't diminish the work and it's still a must read.   

Great Lakes for Sale - Dave Dempsey

In GLFS, Town Hall editor Dempsey writes with the knowledge and experience of a policy expert, but also with passion and conviction on the perils of privatization and commercialization of Great Lakes water.  He takes us through the public trust doctrine and its importance and provides a primer on the effectiveness of marketing by the bottled water industry, including to environmental groups. 

There are extensive passages on the epic Nestle Water vs. the citizens of Mecosta, Michigan battle, as well as coverage of the making of the Great Lakes Compact. My favorite chapter titles are Water for Life, Not Profit and A Compact Only a Lawyer Could Love. 

(Full disclosure, Dempsey is a colleague and friend, and I provided a quote for the second edition. That said, GLFS should be on your Great Lakes reading list, especially if you are concerned about the commercialization of water.) 

Others of note 

Having a category titled others of note sounds like damning with faint praise, which isn't my intent. Space limitations mandate only a mention of the following, but that doesn't mean that they are less worthy. Only that the particular topic may be of less interest to me. 

Lake Effect by Nancy Nichols. The sobering account of how Nichols and her sister were stricken with cancer that Nichols suspects was caused by growing up near the toxic PCB stew in Waukegan Harbor. The Why Ask Why chapter is one of the most important you will read, anywhere. 

Pandora's Locks by Jeff Alexander. Alexander chronicles the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the ecological disaster that ensued as aquatic invasives from around the world tagged along in ballast water only to be discharged into our lakes. Great insight into how the Coast Guard works, or doesn't. 

Thanks to Our Authors

We're extremely fortunate in the Great Lakes region to have authors like Dennis, Annin, Dempsey, and many more. I personally feel indebted to them for the knowledge they have shared and the education I received from their work. It has served me well. 

My hope is that their work would do the same for you. 

gw