“Island Of Adventures – Tales Of Grand Island” is about tales, legends and adventures that have occurred on or around Grand Island, Michigan, the largest island on the south shore of Lake Superior. Located near the famous Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Island was once home to Native Americans, followed by fur traders and early white settlers. Purchased by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company in 1900, the island then became a tourist resort which lasted into the 1950s, when its pristine pine forests were logged. Grand Island then declined into a wilderness again. Today it is a National Recreation Area, its nature being preserved.
I first came to Grand Island when I was five years old, my family having been invited by close friends who own one of the two lighthouses. From then on I have spent almost every summer on the island in cottages without electricity and running water. During these years I heard many stories about the island which I finally decided to compile into a book. They vary from a mysterious lighthouse murder to the thrill of bear encounters, to rescue missions on Lake Superior and some islanders’ tall tales, along with a closer look at Grand Island’s history and the fascination of exploring the island for remnants of its past.
The Foreword is written by Loren Graham who has told me several of these stories. He is also the author of “A Face In The Rock - The Tale Of A Grand Island Chippewa”.