Upper LP: Region Two
Harrison, Jim (James Thomas)
Dec. 11, 1937 –
Place of Birth: Grayling, MI
Place of Principle Residence: summer – Livingston, MT : winter – Patagonia, AZ
Bibliography:
Jim Harrison grew up roaming the woods in northern Michigan with his parents Winfield (a county agricultural agent) and Norma. At age seven his left eye was blinded by a piece of glass, an event he now attributes to his desire to stay outdoors in nature as a form of comfort. When a young man, Harrison set off to make his own way in the world, as his family was financially strained with five children. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University in 1960 and married his wife, Linda, with whom he has been with for over forty years. In 1964 Harrison got his Master’s at State University of New York. He worked as an assistant professor in English in 1965, but quickly concluded he was “temperamentally unsuited” to teaching. In 1966 Harrison moves back with his wife and newborn daughter to northern Michigan and supported his family through freelance journalism and manual labor. Eventually, his poetry brought him to the attention of major reviewers that in turn led to the release of his first book, Wolf, in 1971. Although his book Farmer, published in 1976, did not initially enjoy much success, his subsequent trilogy Legends of the Fall was a great commercial success and was later made into a film. Harrison also works as an artist, and in addition has taken up screenwriting. Critics have noted Harrison’s desire to preserve the South and rural America both in his art and writing. Harrison recently moved from his northern Michigan home and now spends his summers in Minnesota and his winters in Arizona.
Selected Works:
- Plain Song (1965)
- Out of the War Shadow: an Anthology of Current Poetry (1967)
- Locations (1968)
- Un Bon Jour pour Mourir (1973)
- Sundog : The Story of an American Foreman, Robert Corvus Strang (1984)
- Julip (1994)
- The Beast God Forgot to Invent (2000)
- True North (2004)
Awards
- 1967-1969 National Endowment for the Arts Grants
- 1969-1970 Guggenheim fellowship
- 2007 Michigan Notable Book Award for Saving Daylight
- Two awards from National Literary Anthology
Critical reception:
New York Times has praised Wolf: A False Memoir as “…a raunchy, funny, swaggering, angry, cocksure book; it is also a poignant, handsomely-written self-exploration…” Harrion’s book Legends of the Fall has enjoyed particular attention, being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. True North has received mixed reviews, but Gordon Hauptfleisch (editor of Blogcritics Books and book reviewer for San Diego Union Tribune) wrote, “still, if Harrison’s newest work is flawed an uneven, it is nevertheless a rich and satisfying read for the strenuously poetic passages detailing not only the complexities, quirks, and intricacies of human emotions and interactions, but also for conveying a solid sense of place.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Growing up in northern Michigan has been strongly attributed by Harrison to influencing his writing. As a child he enjoyed hunting and fishing and spent many days roaming the woods. This is clearly represented in much of his writing is rural in nature. In addition, Harrison has developed a strong love of the South and rural America. While living in northern Michigan as an adult, Harrison wrote in an old granary on his property. His love for nature has never faded.
Hemingway, Ernest
1899—1961
Place of Birth: Oak Park, IL
Principal Place of Residence: Chicago, Paris, Cuba, Idaho
Biography
Ernest Miller
Hemingway was born to Clarence and Grace Hemingway in Oak Park, IL on July 21, 1899. He attended high school at Oak Park and River Forest high school. Hemingway’s earliest writing was for his high school’s newspaper and literary magazine Trapeze and Tabula, respectively. Instead of going to college after getting his high school diploma, Hemmingway tried his hand in journalism by working for the Kansas City Star. After a few months of reporting, Hemingway left his job and tried to enlist in the army to serve in WWI. He failed the medical examination due to his poor eyesight, but he was able to enlist in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. Once in Europe, Hemingway did everything he could to get as close to the action. On his first day of duty, on the Italian Front, an ammunition factory near Milan blew up. He spent the rest of the day picking up human remains from the debris. As this was his first encounter with death, he was badly shaken when he finished. His experiences in WWI had a huge influence on his writing. Most of Hemingway’s books were semi-autobiographical, and many of his characters were based on people he knew or had met. The Sun Also Rises was Hemingway’s first successful novel as a professional writer. In his life, Hemingway was married four times. His wives in order were: Elizabeth Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn, and Mary Welsh. Hemingway and Richardson had one son, whose name was John. Hemingway went on to have two more children with Pfeiffer: Patrick and Gregory. Through his sons John and Gregory, Hemingway had eleven grandchildren. He died on July 2, 1961.
Selected Works
Novels:
- The Sun Also Rises (1926)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
- Across the River and Through the Trees (1950)
- The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
- Islands in the Stream (1970)
- The Garden of Eden (1986)
- True at First Light (1999)
- Under Kilimanjaro (2005)
Non-Fiction:
- Death in the Afternoon (1932)
- Green Hills of Africa (1936)
Collections
- In Our Time (1925)
- Men Without Women (1927)
Awards
- 1953 Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
- 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.”
Critical Response
Hemingway’s early works received favorable reviews. As his career progressed he became arrogant, and quickly lost favor with contemporary writers, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertude Stein, and Max Eastman. After winning the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize, his international reputation improved.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Hemingway spent summers in Northern Michigan as a child growing up. His contact with the nature there made him love the outdoors.
Lewis, Anne Margaret
November 8, 1963—
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Traverse City, MI
Biography
Anne Margaret Lewis was born to Joan and John Roosen in Detroit, MI on November 8, 1963. She wrote her first story in sixth grade, and has since used her ideas and imagination in writing her books, working closely with illustrators to bring her characters alive. She graduated with her BA in 1990 at the University of Michigan. Previously Lewis has worked at Sleeping Bear Press with her husband, Brian, but now owns and publishes at the Mackinac Island Press. She travels around the country reading to children, stating that she delights in captivating youngsters’ attention and introducing new ideas. Lewis currently resides in Traverse, MI and enjoys reading to and with her four children: Caitlin, Matthew, Patrick, and Cameron.
Selected Works:
- Has Anyone Seen Christmas?
- Gitchi Gumee
- Hidden Cherries
- Twas the NIght Before Summer
Awards:
- American Booksellers Association BookSense Selection for Has Anyone Seen Christmas?
- Midwest Booksellers Association Children’s Book of the Year Honor Book for Gitchi Gumee
Critical Reception:
Though her works have largely been met with approval from teachers and critics, not all of Lewis’ books have earned her applause from every front. Her second book,Gitchee Gumee, a story about a young Native American boy who learns lessons of patience and respect and the “big water” of the Atlantic, has been criticized by fellow author (and Native American) Lois Beardless for perpetuating damaging stereotypes of Native Americans. Lewis, Beardless claims, creates alternative Native American legends that contribute to the stereotyping of these people as simple, docile, and primitive—stereotypes that were used to justify the usurpation of Native American lands in the United States’ past and (whether or not Lewis intends them to) continue to simplify and damage perceptions of their culture today.
Lewis’ impetus for creating story, however, seems rooted in the vibrant images and characters that she creates and the hopeful, instructive messages her books communicate to children. Her interest lies in the fantastical, in her own stories about elves and hidden pumpkins and kingdoms of fireflies. Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and has worked with her husband Brian in his publishing company, Sleeping Bear Press.
For Has Anyone Seen Christmas?:
“As for our stores enthusiasm about the book you can quote our Head Cashier Afton Jennings as saying it is “the best Christmas book” she
has ever seen. I am so excited to find a Christmas book that shows everyone that the spirit of Christmas and the joy of giving live on
throughout the year if we just open our eyes to it. I love all the hidden Santa’s because they show us that sometimes we do have to look for
those feelings as our day to day lives take over but they are always there in our hearts. The fun and creative writing in this wonderful story
and the amazing artwork combine to make a book that everyone will love and is sure to become a Christmas classic.”
- Molly Jo Stewart, CRM, Barnes & Noble
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Lewis grew up in Detroit, where she first began to foster her imagination and write stories.
Perkins, Lynne Rae
July 31, 1956 -
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, PA
Place of Principle Residence: Cedar, MI
Biography:
Lynne Rae Perkins was born to Janet and Raymond Calvert in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her B.F.A. in Drawing and Painting at Pennsylvania State University in 1978 and her M.F.A. in Printmaking at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1981. Upon graduating from the latter, Perkins moved to Boston where she worked as a graphic designer. There she met and married her husband, Bill, and moved to the northern woods of Michigan. The couple lived in a house constructed by Bill (a furniture maker) that had no electricity, telephone service, or running water, requiring woodstoves, a propane-powered refrigerator, and walking to a nearby park for buckets of water. Perkins got her foot in the publishing world when she attended the 1993 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference and got her illustrations looked at by the art director of GreenWillow Books. The director liked what she saw, and in 1995 Perkins’ first book was published, Home Lovely. Since then Perkins has written and illustrated many other books, including the Newberry Award-winning Criss Cross. She now lives in Cedar, MI in a house designed by herself and built by her husband, with her two children: Lucy and Frank.
Selected Works:
- Home Lovely (1995)
- Clouds for Dinner (1997)
- All Alone in the Universe (1999)
- The Broken Cat (2002)
Awards:
- Home Lovely Horn Book Honor Book
- Clouds: riverbank Review’s books of distinction
Critical Reception:
For Criss Cross:
“Writing in a wry, omniscient third-person narrative voice, Perkins deftly captures the tentativeness and incompleteness of adolescence. In 38 brief chapters, this poetic, postmodern novel experiments with a variety of styles: haiku, song lyrics, question-and-answer dialogue and split-screen scenarios. With seeming yet deliberate randomness, Perkins writes an orderly, innovative, and risk-taking book in which nothing happens and everything happens.”
- Newberry Award Committee Chair Barbara Barstow
For The Broken Cat:
“Perkins is a genius at capturing the odd details that reveal so much about individuals and families, and how they interact.”
- Riverbank Review
“Lynne Rae Perkins has the gift of surprising — and, once she’s caught you and often delighted you, of shifting your point of view, or showing you something new, or getting you to think about something you hadn’t thought about before, at least in quite that way.”
- Horn Book Magazine
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Perkins draws her inspiration from living in the northern woods of Michigan. Her book, Clouds for Dinner, was based on her experience on her and her husband’s first and very rustic house.
Porter, Phil
January 29, 1953 -
Place of Birth: Grosse Pointe, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Cheboygan, MI
Biography:
Phil Porter was born to Lorone and William Porter in Grosse Pointe, MI. During his youth, Porter and his family spent summers at their home on Mackinac Island where Porter’s life-long interest in the region began. During his summers at college, he worked as a uniformed guide at Fort Mackinac. In 1974, Porter graduated from Kenyon College with a BA, and in 1975 he graduated from the State University of New York with a Masters in History Museum studies. Porter has worked for the Mackinac Island State Park for over thirty-one years, serving as a curator of collections, curator of interpretation, and most recently was appointed director of the Mackinac Island State Park. He is considered an authority on the history of the Mackinac region and has published several books on the subject. In addition, Porter serves on the board of trustees of the Michigan Museums Association and the City of Cheboygan Historic Resources Commission. Porter lives in Cheboygan, MI and has five children: William, Joseph, Susanna, Katherine, and Elizabeth.
Selected Works:
- The Eagle at Mackinac, the Establishment of United States Military and Civilian Authority on Mackinac Island, 1796-1802 (1991)
- View From the Veranda, the History and Architecture of the Summer Cottages on Mackinac Island (1981)
Critical Reception:
Porter is considered the authority on the history of Mackinac Island, and has received attention for his books on the subject.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Most of Porter’s life has been spent on Mackinac Island. Ever since a young boy he has involved himself in the region, and for over thirty years has worked for the Mackinac Island State Park. All of his work is revolved around the history of Mackinac Island.