Historians
Parker, Virginia Bailey
September 25, 1947 -
Place of Birth: Chillicothe, OH
Place of Principle Residence: Canton, MI
Biography:
Virginia Bailey Parker was born to Virginia and John Bailey in Chillicothe, Ohio. She graduated with an AA degree from Henry Ford Community College in 1967 and a BA in history from Michigan State University in 1969. After earning her MS degree in historic preservation at Eastern Michigan University, Parker took additional graduate credits at the University of Michigan on heritage interpretation. Parker started off as a history teacher at Crestwood High School before becoming a professional writer and lecturer. She has led many workshops, including business and writing workshops at Ford Motor Company at various universities. In addition to writing and lecturing, Parker owns Snowy Creek Press that publishes books and offers a wide variety of writing and editing services, professional development seminars, and special projects including writing company histories. During her writing career she has researched and written about local folklore and has written many articles for magazines and newspapers. Her book The Water’s Edge won two national awards, including Book of the Year award from ForeWord magazine. She currently lives in Canton, MI with her husband Donald Parker.
Selected Works:
- The Water’s Edge (2001)
- An Oral History of Our Community (1995)
- Canton Township: A Community in Transition (1991)
Awards:
- 1995 Historical Society of Michigan Award of Merit for Canton Memories
- 1995 Historical Society of Michigan Award of Merit for Crossroads of Canton
- 1998, 1999 Managing editor of Michigan Psychiatric Society Newsletter when publication received two Certificates of Honorable Mentions and an Award for Five Years of Continued Excellence from the American Psychiatric Association
- 1997 Nominated for a national Oral History Association Media Award for the archival video series, Canton Memories
Critical Reception:
For The Water’s Edge:
The author has done her homework with this novel, which is filled with good historical research. And although this book is by no means something I would label feminist literature, it certainly has an underlying theme on the plight of seventeenth century English women, such as the fact that midwives were licensed by bishops because childbirth was considered more a religious matter than a medical one—and, even worse, that any midwife discovered doing anything to ease suffering during childbirth would have her license revoked. Highly recommended.
- The Historical Novels Review Magazine of the Historical Novel Society
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Parker has devoted much time and energy into researching the local folklore of Canton, MI where she currently resides. In addition she has earned degrees in history, historical preservation, and heritage interpretation at Michigan universities.
Passic, Frank Jr.
April 19, 1953 -
Place of Birth: Albion, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Albion, MI
Biography:
Frank Passic, Jr was born to Frank, Sr and Pauline Passic in Albion, MI. After graduating from Albion High School, Passic attended Spring Arbor College and earned his BA degree in 1775. He is an advent researcher of Albion history and written and published much of his research. Passic has worked as a curator of local history and an Albion historian for the Albion Historical Society, and has been publishing articles on Albion history for the past twenty-five years. His weekly columns appear in the Morning Star Shopper, Albion Recorder, and The Mich-Matist.
Selected Works:
- History of Albion, MI From the Archives (1991)
- A Comprehensive Guide and Key to Artist Albert Ruger’s 1866 Bird’s Eye View of Albion, MI (1988)
- Albion’s Banks and Bankers (1985)
Awards:
- 1983 Heath Literary Award, American Numismatic Association, 1983
- Literary Awards, Michigan State Numismatic Society
- 1999 First Place Catherine Sheehan Literary Award for U.S. Paper Money Studies
- 1998 American Numismatic Association for article, “The Albion Bank Scandal.” in The Numismatist January 1998 issue
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Passic has devoted most of his life to the history of Albion, and has done much writing on his research, publishing both books and articles for local magazines. He has access to many resources in Albion history, including Cemetery records and obituaries, family surname files, and photographs that he uses to help other Albion natives look into their family’s roots.
Peck, William H.
October 2, 1931 -
Place of Birth:
Place of Principle Residence:
Biography
William H. Peck was born to Mildred and William Peck in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Ohio State University and Wayne State University, graduated from the latter in 1961 with a Master’s Degree. Employed by the Detroit Institute of the Arts in 1960, Peck started as a curator in the education department and began a lifelong study on art and Egyptian history. Over the years, Peck has composed articles for journals, books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias, in addition to authoring his own books on Ancient Egypt and the history of the Detroit Institute of the Arts. The duration of his research has also led him to work as a field archaeologist with New York University and the Brooklyn Museum at Egypt excavations, and to give lectures across the United States. Peck now works as the senior curator for the Detroit Institute of the Arts and lives with his wife, Mildred, in Detroit and has four children: Alice An, Sarah, Louise, and William.
Selected Works:
- Splendors of Ancient Egypt (1997)
- Fann al-rasm ‘inda qudama’al-Misriyin (1987)
- Drawings from Ancient Egypt (1978)
Awards:
- 1962 Ford Motor Co. of England - Travel Grant
- 1971 American Research Center in Egypt Fellowship
- 1975 Smithsonian Instution Travel Grant
- 1985 Wayne State U. Award in the Arts for Distinguished Alumnus
Critical Reception
For Drawings from Ancient Egypt:
“The attractive book under review with its sixteen colour plates and 132 monochrome illustrations of drawings on ostraka, papyri, walls, and ceramics is likely to appeal to art-lovers who find it hard to come to terms with the impersonality of monumental Egyptian art. A brief introduction by Cyril Aldred explains the context of these scattered works, and William Peck provides a survey and informative commentaries of the illustrations. Here one’s only regret might be that the indications of measurements—so relevant in many cases—are relegated to the list of plates at the end of the book.”
- The Gombrich Archive
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Peck has been employed at the Detroit Institute of the Arts since 1960. Besides using his experience there to study, write, and educate, he has also authored a book on the history of the Detroit Institute of the Arts.
Piercy, Marge
March 31, 1936 -
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Wellfleet, MA
Biography:
Marge Piercy was born to Bernice and Robert Piercy in Detroit, MI. Growing up during the Great Depression, Piercy and her family struggled to get by. Her grandmother and mother raised her to be a Jew, and Piercy remains one today. At age seventeen, she won a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, earning her A.B. in 1957. Piercy describes this time as enjoyable academically, but difficult with being a feminist in the Freudianism that permeated the campus. Upon graduating, Piercy won a fellowship to attend Northwestern University, where she earned her M.A. in 1958. Piercy has lived numerous places, teaching poetry and writing at many universities. She is actively involved in politics, and was involved in the anti-Vietnam war protest, the Women’s movement, and currently with the resistance to the war in Iraq. Early on in her writing career (around her early to mid-twenties), Piercy did not enjoy much success. Eventually she got her first book published, Breaking Camp, in 1968, and has since published seventeen novels. Much of Piercy’s fiction and writing revolves around politics, women, and the working class. With her current husband, Ira Wood, Piercy has written a play (The Last White Class), co-authored a novel, and established the Leapfrog Press. Piercy currently works as a writer and lecturer and lives in Wellfleet, MA.
Selected Works:
- Breaking Camp (1968)
- Woman on the Edge of Time (1976)
- The Moon is Always Female (1980)
- The Longings of Women (1994)
Awards:
- 1956, 1957 Hopwood Award for Fiction and Poetry
- 1968, 1974 Borestone Mountain Poetry Award (Twice)
- 1986, 1990 Carolyn Kizer Poetry Prize from Calapooya College
- 1989 Two Thousand Notable American Women, 1st edition, American Biographical Institute, Inc.
- 1990 The Golden Rose Poetry Prize, New England Poetry Club
- 1991 May Sarton Award, New England Poetry Club
- 1992 Brit ha-Dorot Award, The Shalom Center
- 1992 Barbara Bradley Award, New England Poetry Club
- 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Best Science Fiction Novel published in the United Kingdom
- 1997 ALA ‘97 Notable Book Award for What Are Big Girls Made Of?
- 2000 Paterson Poetry Prize for The Art of Blessing the Day
- James B. Angell Scholar and Lucinda Goodrich Downs Scholar
- Orion Scott Award in Humanities
- Literature Award from the governor’s commission on the Status of Women (Massachusetts)
- Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association medal
- Shaffer/PEN/New England Award for Literary Excellence
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Bridgewater State College
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Lesley College
Critical Reception:
“Marge Piercy is not just an author, she’s a cultural touchstone. Few writers in modern memory have sustained her passion, and skill, for creating stories of consequence.”
-The Boston Globe
For He, She, and It:
“This is a beautifully-written book that evokes style and mood wonderfully. Considering the constant changes of scene between 17th-century Prague and the mid-21st, Ms. Piercy does a marvellous job of making each era believable. Using the two time periods is more than just a device; the earlier tale is instrumental in bringing about the conclusion of events in the 21st century.”
- BlogCritics Magazine
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Piercy’s childhood in Detroit, MI shaped her perspective on the world, especially with fostering her politically themed work. Her family lived in a segregated neighborhood during the depression, and her grandfather was murdered for being a union organizer. This involvement with injustice later inspired Piercy to get actively involved in political protests, fighting against the Vietnam and Iraq wars and pushing for more rights for women and the working class.
Pitrone, Jean
Place of Birth: Ishpeming, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Trenton, MI
Biography:
Jean Amelia Maddern Pitrone was born to Gladys and William Maddern in Ishpeming, MI. Early on in her childhood she has a love for music and writing, a passion that later manifested in her published works. Pitrone graduated from Ishpeming High School in 1938 and in 1940 married her husband, Anthony Pitrone. The couple moved to Detroit where Pitrone enthusiastically pursued historical research, writing many short stories and articles on her findings for a wide variety of publications such as Family Digest and the Chicago Tribune. In addition to her writing, Pitrone served as an organist and music director for different churches, and also served as a short story writing instructor for the Writer’s Digest School. During her time in Detroit, Pitrone was the president of Detroit Women Writers, and worked as a staff member and speaker for the Oakland University Writer’s Conference. Her book, Tangled Web: Legacy of the Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge, appeared on “Kelly & Company,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and the “Phil Donahue Show.” Pitrone died on March 12, 2008 in Trenton, MI.
Selected Works:
- Hudson’s: Hub of America’s Heartland (1991)
- The Dodges: the Auto Family Fortune & Misfortune (1981)
- Chavez: Man of the Migrants (1972)
- The Great Black Robe (1963)
Awards:
- 1990 Book of Distinction Award, International Society of Automotive Historians
- 1982 Books Across the Sea Selection
- 1970 First Place Award, Friends of American Writers
Critical Reception:
Pitrone has received several awards, including the First Place Award from Friends of American Writers. Her book, Tangled Web: Legacy of the Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge, has appeared on “Kelly & Company,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and the “Phil Donahue Show.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Pitrone spent her whole life in Michigan, the majority of which being in Detroit. She was an active member of the Detroit Womens Writers, and spent much of her time using resources in Detroit to pursue research for her books.