Vintage postcards, messages from yesterday, and photographs capture the splendor of one of Michigan's most beautiful counties.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1880.

15 Years of the best photography from the creators of LelandReport.com, a photo-a-day diary from Leelanau County, Michigan

From the Publisher: The story of quintessential lake cottage life is told in this survey of early summer cottages built along the shore of Glen Lake located in north-west lower Michigan and renowned for its natural, pristine beauty. Over 50 Glen Lake historic cottages' interiors and exteriors are documented in 172 duotones and narratives that honor each cottage's lore and memories. As photographed by Dietrich Floeter, the black-and-white images reveal the essence and beauty of each cottage. The accompanying text by local historian Barbara Siepker provides historical background that incorporates personal anecdotes of the owners and early Glen Lake residents. These cozy summer lake cottages in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes are viewed against the backdrop of early summer tourism in the first half of the twentieth century in northern Michigan. Each cottage is shown in its glory and reveals its importance in the lives of its owners and the community. Paging through the book is like taking a walk back in time. Whether one's interest begins with a cottage's history, architecture, interior or family narrative, what will remain is the special sense of place and state of mind that only a lake cottage can evoke.

This collection of 267 personal letters will introduce you to Oliver, Eleanor & Marietta Boizard and their friends. You will journey with the Boizards to Florida during the Seminole Indian War where Eleanor works as a laundress at Fort Myers while Oliver's Army unit is building a road through the swamp near Lake Okeechobee. From there Oliver's Army unit moves to Fort Leavenworth and Fort Ridgely in the Nebraska Territory. In 1861 when the American Civil War begins, Oliver is stationed in Newport Barracks, Kentucky. At the expiration of his enlistment in February 1864, Oliver moves to Chicago. Due to health reasons, his wife and daughter move to Glen Arbor, Michigan. From 1864-1870 Oliver and Eleanor write to each other and occasionally visit. Oliver works to support his family. You will read about Indians, military outposts, Civil War Battles, General Grant, Sherman's march and the assassination of President Lincoln. You will also discover the cost of many everyday items during the mid-1800's.

"In Isadore's Secret, Mardi Link shines a journalist's lamp on this dark, quiet corner of Michigan's history, assuring that the tragic story of Sister Janina is not forgotten. Link's telling is fascinating and thorough, making a story you will not soon forget." ---Steve Lehto, author of Death's Door A gripping account of the mysterious 1907 disappearance of a young nun in a northern Michigan town and the national controversy that followed when she turned up dead and buried in the basement of her own church. Swinging planks of lantern light shine through the musty air and onto the dirt floor of the church basement. The oddly glowing rectangles syncopate over the damp ground and illuminate even the darkest, stooped-down corners of the space beyond. The only sound is the ragged breathing of two men, a young parish priest and a much older laborer. Aboveground these men belong completely to this place, in both body and soul. A glimpse of their faces anywhere in the sanctuary, the rectory, the school, the barn, or the gardens would be a welcome sight. But here below, these men of Isadore are interlopers. Only trespassers would sneak silently into the church's sloped underbelly without witness to carry out such a sinful and secret errand as this one. Despite their tools, and their lantern, and their resolve, neither is equipped for the task at hand or for what is to come. Mardi Link, a former crime reporter, was named Antioch's Betty Crumrine Scholar for Creative Nonfiction in 2007. Her first book, When Evil Came to Good Hart, also published by the University of Michigan Press, spent four months on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List. This true story was the basis for the Broadway play The Runner Stumbles and the film of the same name. Front cover: Photograph of cemetery © John L. Russell, Great Lakes Images; image of face ©iStockphoto.com/duncan1890.

Explores ghosts and haunted places, local legends, cursed roads, crazy characters, and unusual roadside attractions found in Michigan.