Review by Mack Hassler “This is how God created the heavens and earth ‘For Behold, I am creating a new heaven and earth.’” Isaiah 65:17 For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying… only Hari Seldon, creator of the science of psychohistory, can see…
Review by Mack Hassler “Henry Nash Smith, in Virgin Land: American West as Symbol and Myth (1950), analyzes the Buffalo Bill legend created in popular literature. Benjamin A.Botkin in A Treasury of American Folklore (1944) looks at the Wild West Show and its proprietor in the context of American Folk…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Jane Piirto’s The Lilacs of Ishpeming: After the Kalevala (Poems) offers a colorful view of the author’s Upper Peninsula roots and her Finnish heritage. Ishpeming is a town in the western portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.), approximately 15 miles from the town of Marquette,…
Review by Mack Hassler “Vermilac, (Worm Lake); “Pointe Aux Loup Springs (Wolf Springs) History tells us that if it had not been for the French and Indian War, which took place ten years before our War for Independence and which the British won, the whole continent from the East…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Once again, Hilton Everett Moore writes about those subjects people don’t want to talk about; the things that often happen to friends, family, and neighbors in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (and in other places, too) more often than we care to admit. And, once again, he…
Review by Mack Hassler “Choose a Hawaiian Shirt, or dress….. Or just wear something bright, colorful or a plain Bright color…. Look Festive!! Smile!!! It brightens everyone’s mood.” — A flyer posted by my Retirement Home “And with wandering steps and slow, [our first parents] through Eden made their Solitary way.” …
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Craig A. Brockman’s Dead Ships: Eternity Is a Frozen Sea tells the story of a party of four, burdened with regret and sorrow, who survived a haunting kayaking adventure on the majestic and harrowing Lake Superior. The story takes place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.), and it…
Review by Jon C. Stott Writing a biography for young readers is a challenge. Much of the life chronicled covers the subject’s adult years, many aspects of which may be beyond readers’ comprehension. When the subject is from another culture, the challenges increase because the social and spiritual milieu in…
Review by Mack Hassler “It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Jordan Bloom’s Never Your Valentine offers a view of a relationship fraught with contempt, confusion, and desire. The main characters in the story are Annabelle, Grant, June (Grant’s sister), Lia (a lawyer), Dove (a bakery owner), other friends, and some of Grant’s family members. The story takes…
Review by Mack Hassler Tantae molis erat Romanem condere gentum “How hard it was to found the Race of Rome” Near the end of Book I, The Aeneid by Virgil (written about the time of Christ’s birth) “ … they were now looking up at the branches…
Review by Mack Hassler I went to the library, because I found that I learned more from one hour in the library than from one hour in class.” — The People’s Historian: The outsized life of Howard Zinn, by Dave Zirin, p. 45. Zinn’s family had come from Siberia early…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Tamara Lauder’s The Spirit Within Us: Understanding the Gifts Within Us offers a practical guide to encouraging personal reflection and creativity. Most people have an untapped reservoir of unrealized potential attributes. The author offers a unique perspective by having the main character, Bicycle Betty, visit planets such as…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Michael S. Nyquist’s Honorable Peter White of Marquette paints a detailed and well-researched account of Peter White’s life. White held many prestigious professional roles, including attorney and Michigan House Representative. He was referred to as Mr. Marquette. He served as a jack of multiple trades, intelligent and…
Review by Mack Hassler An early issue of Clutch was one of the first collections I reviewed, long before Luczak had his idea of editing his series. The geography of Robert Zoschke reaches up and to the East toward the delta of the Menominee into Lake Michigan, so it is…
Review by Mack Hassler The Yooper Poetry Series, originated and edited by Luczak, captivates me in this book Amasa Speaker Factory by Chad Faries (volume VI), which deals mostly with Iron County; and with the Zoschke 2026 edition of Clutch, we get a similar Kerouac-centered “on the road” openness of structure…
Review by Deborah K Frontiera Books of poetry are not meant to be read like novels, page after page for hours on end. Poetry is meant to be read a few pages at a time over a few weeks or more. Even if a reader doesn’t “understand” everything right away,…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Michael Nyquist’s The Iron Queen’s Revenge offers a well-researched study of a woman’s scorn that led to the possible murders of many unfortunate individuals. The true story was based on wealth, power, greed, lust, adultery, attempted murder and murder. The story took place in many locations, starting…
