I pick up Jerry Dennis' book to read "The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas."
From the first page on, past and present merge. Pieces of childhood vacations and long beach walks float to the top of my consciousness. A part of the adult self dives deep and connects to the heart of something much on my mind these days: It is my gnawing concern about the future of these beautiful and important sweetwater seas.
I am pleased this book was chosen as the Traverse City Reads selection year.
It is an opportune time for our community to read and discuss it. The Great Lakes face great challenges today, as do all the eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces and millions of people who live around them. I think it will take insistent urging from communities all around the 10,000 miles of shorelines, including Michigan's 3,200-mile coastline, to save the Great Lakes basin from further destruction in our global and ever-thirstier world.
Dennis' book, published in 2003, does not focus on "water war" politics. Instead, it peers into the life of the lakes and his journey by water and land to find the heart of these freshwater seas. He sails off for four weeks from Clinch Park Marina in 2000 on the tall-masted schooner Malabar with a captain named Hajo.
His book tells us the lakes' histories, the construction of canals and seaway, DDT and other pollution. It describes landscapes, water, people and wildlife, storms, shipwrecks and tragedies. It is poetic, vivid, well-researched and written. It brims with fascinating facts about places and science.
"The Living Great Lakes" hits close to home. It reminds us water is the key to human life and the web of life. In looking for the heart of the Great Lakes, Dennis touches our hearts. He touches the heart of the matter.
Through his tales, adventures and images, we can remember our responsibility for stewardship and advocacy for these lakes as life-sustaining natural resources that must be managed and preserved for future generations.
For me, this book clarifies why Great Lakes water cannot be privatized or become a commodity governed by international trade and corporate law. Either of those choices ensures they will be sucked dry.
These lakes, with a surface area that covers almost 95,000-square miles, are so much more than a beautiful natural treasure. They are essential to the ecology and climate of chunks of Canada and the United States.
"The Living Great Lakes" is a great read and enjoyable journey. It stirs something important. In finding the heart of the inland seas, we find our own.
Record-Eagle associate editor Loraine Anderson can be reached at landerson@record-eagle.com.
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