Jerry Dennis

Northern Michigan is a place, like all places, in change. Over the past half century, its landscape has been bulldozed, subdivided, and built upon. Climate change warms the water of the Great Lakes at an alarming rate--Lake Superior is now the fastest-warming large body of freshwater on the planet--creating increasingly frequent and severe storm events, altering aquatic and shoreline ecosystems, and contributing to further invasions by non-native plants and animals. And yet the essence of this region, known to many as simply "Up North," has proved remarkably perennial. Millions of acres of state and national forests and other public lands remain intact. Small towns peppered across the rural countryside have changed little over the decades, pushing back the machinery of progress with the help of dedicated land conservancies, conservation organizations, and other advocacy groups. Up North in Michigan, the new collection from celebrated nature writer Jerry Dennis, captures its author's lifelong journey to better know this place he calls home by exploring it in every season, in every kind of weather, on foot, on bicycle, in canoes and cars. The essays in this book are more than an homage to a particular region, its people, and its natural wonders. They are a reflection on the Up North that can only be experienced through your feet and fingertips, through your ears, mouth, and nose--the Up North that makes its way into your bones as surely as sand makes its way into wood grain. The paperback contains a new chapter by Jerry Dennis that has been written since the publication of the hardcover.

A Cast Away in Montana is the captivating story of a passionate angler’s first trip to Montana. Through Tim Schulz's humorous, insightful, and reflective storytelling, readers not only discover the thrill of pursuing elusive fish in stunning landscapes but also embark on a profoundly personal exploration of life, loss, and self-discovery. This compelling narrative resonates with fly-fishing enthusiasts and those seeking a meaningful connection to nature as it weaves together engaging tales of adventure, friendship, regional history, and reflection. Whether enjoyed by an angler, an outdoor lover, or simply a fan of beautifully crafted storytelling, A Cast Away in Montana reels in the reader and leaves a lasting impression.

Award-winning nature author Jerry Dennis reveals the splendor and beauty of North America's Great Lakes in this "masterwork"* history and memoir of the essential environmental and economical region shared by the United States and Canada. No bodies of water compare to the Great Lakes. Superior is the largest lake on earth, and together all five contain a fifth of the world's supply of standing fresh water. Their ten thousand miles of shoreline border eight states and a Canadian province and are longer than the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Their surface area of 95,000 square miles is greater than New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. People who have never visited them--who have never seen a squall roar across Superior or the horizon stretch unbroken across Michigan or Huron--have no idea how big they are. They are so vast that they dominate much of the geography, climate, and history of North America, affecting the lives of tens of millions of people. The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas is the definitive book about the history, nature, and science of these remarkable lakes at the heart of North America. From the geological forces that formed them and the industrial atrocities that nearly destroyed them, to the greatest environmental success stories of our time, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario are portrayed in all their complexity. A Michigan native, Jerry Dennis also shares his memories of a lifetime on or near the lakes, including a six-week voyage as a crewmember on a tallmasted schooner. On his travels, he collected more stories of the lakes through the eyes of biologists, fishermen, sailors, and others he befriended while hiking the area's beaches and islands. Through storms and fog, on remote shores and city waterfronts, Dennis explores the five Great Lakes in all seasons and moods and discovers that they and their connecting waters--including the Erie Canal, the Hudson River, and the East Coast from New York to Maine--offer a surprising and bountiful view of America. The result is a meditation on nature and our place in the world, a discussion and cautionary tale about the future of water resources, and a celebration of a place that is both fragile and robust, diverse, rich in history and wildlife, often misunderstood, and worthy of our attention. "This is history at its best and adventure richly described."--*Doug Stanton, author of In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors and 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award WinnerWinner of Best Book of 2003 by the Outdoor Writers Association of America

Northern Michigan is a place, like all places, in change. Over the past half century, its landscape has been bulldozed, subdivided, and built upon. Climate change warms the water of the Great Lakes at an alarming rate--Lake Superior is now the fastest-warming large body of freshwater on the planet--creating increasingly frequent and severe storm events, altering aquatic and shoreline ecosystems, and contributing to further invasions by non-native plants and animals. And yet the essence of this region, known to many as simply "Up North," has proved remarkably perennial. Millions of acres of state and national forests and other public lands remain intact. Small towns peppered across the rural countryside have changed little over the decades, pushing back the machinery of progress with the help of dedicated land conservancies, conservation organizations, and other advocacy groups. Up North in Michigan, the new collection from celebrated nature writer Jerry Dennis, captures its author's lifelong journey to better know this place he calls home by exploring it in every season, in every kind of weather, on foot, on bicycle, in canoes and cars. The essays in this book are more than an homage to a particular region, its people, and its natural wonders. They are a reflection on the Up North that can only be experienced through your feet and fingertips, through your ears, mouth, and nose--the Up North that makes its way into your bones as surely as sand makes its way into wood grain.

There is nothing in the universe like water. It is unique and beautiful and without it there could be no life on earth. Little wonder, then, that people have always expressed such awe, delight, and reverence for it. The Bird in the Waterfall is a celebration of the wonders of water and the creatures that live in it. While exploring waterfalls and artesian springs, ocean waves and tidal bores, whirligig beetles and torrent ducks, author Jerry Dennis and artist Glenn Wolff address age-old aquatic mysteries: Why do rivers meander? What are the sources of hot springs and geysers? What causes tsunamis and rogue waves? Why is water blue-and sometimes green, black, yellow, or red? Why do we gather to watch falling water and crashing surf? Why do we toss coins into fountains? At the heart of The Bird in the Waterfall is a profound appreciation for the magic, music, and poetry of water-and a passionate appeal for the protection of this most precious of the earth's resources. PRAISE: "A passionate appreciation for the magic, music, and poetry of water, and an appeal for the protection of this most precious of the earth's resources." -Natural Resources and Wildlife Magazine "Jerry Dennis is one of today's most readable and informative nature essayists, and his latest book, The Bird in the Waterfall, is a marvelous look at the natural history of oceans, rivers, and lakes. It ought to be required reading for anyone who loves the outdoors, angling, surfing, beachcombing, or birding." -Buffalo News "The Bird in the Waterfall is truly science for everyone. When you have finished reading it, you will not only know more, but you may become as charmed with water as Dennis is." -Earth Magazine "I can't think of anyone I know-angler, conservationist, scientific reader, curious kid-who wouldn't enjoy, and learn from, this unusual book. And from endpaper to endpaper, it's a visual delight, too." -Fly Rod and Reel Magazine "A lovely natural history... written with a grand, entertaining style." -Detroit News "Dennis teams once more with artist Glenn Wolff to create a wonderful compendium of fact and folklore, historical drama, and personal anecdote about earth's most marvelous compound." -Michigan Out-of-Doors "Jerry Dennis's clear-eyed essays surpass mere explanation of facts; he conveys the rare gift of understanding the workings of nature, along with passion for its beauties and terrors. His prose is admirably paced with Glenn Wolff's artistic microcosms." -Arts Borealis "Jerry Dennis knows water. His new book is a tribute to the magic, music, and poetry of water and an appeal for the protection of this most precious of the earth's resources... a perfect choice for adults and kids alike who want to discover more about how the world is put together." -Lake Country Gazette "Nature writer Dennis conveys his deep feelings for all aspects of the aquatic realm... and parlays his fascination with the dynamics of bodies of water into a richly informative description of how lakes and rivers support myriad lifeforms." -Booklist "Like all fine nature writing, this book instills a renewed sense of wonder for our natural world. A simple drink of water will never be the same again after reading The Bird in the Waterfall." -Flint Journal "A masterful work of natural history that] exerts a steady and inexorable pull. This read is well worth your while." -Traverse Magazine

It's Raining Frogs and Fishes is a generously illustrated inquiry into wonders of the sky: Why is the sky blue? Where do meteors originate? What causes rainbows, mirages, and the colors of the sunset? Why do some birds and insects migrate, and how do they navigate over hundreds or thousands of miles to do it? How have civilizations throughout history viewed the aurora borealis, tornadoes, eclipses, and the bizarre but well documented cases of fish, reptiles, snails, and even snakes that have rained to earth? Author Jerry Dennis and illustrator Glenn Wolff approach such questions with curiosity and wit, and suggest ways to observe first-hand extraordinary weather, astronomical anomalies, and odd and interesting wildlife of the skies. This updated edition of the national bestseller is a spellbinding look into the natural world's most fascinating and baffling phenomena, with illustrated explanations of rainbows, meteors, sunsets, hurricanes, the northern lights, bird and insect flight, and dozens of other curiosities. Subjects are arranged by season, and each is discussed in a concise and entertaining style that blends the most recent scientific findings with historical anecdotes, personal observations, and examples of the lore and superstitions that have always surrounded phenomena of the skies. PRAISE "Amusing and illuminating...This writer-artist team shines a bright and lovely light on nature." Los Angeles Times "Charming, informative, humorous, and scholarly... embraces wind and weather, the sun, the moon and stars, the seasons of the year and the effect of these things on the denizens of this planet. It is a delight." Nelson Bryant, The New York Times "Vastly entertaining, valuable... Makes natural history so much fun the reader is sucked from paragraph to paragraph, page to page, chapter to chapter." St. Louis Post-Dispatch "This delightful look at nature...is a cornucopia of fact and lore. Wit, humor, wonder, and reverence spice and season the vignettes herein. It's Raining Frogs and Fishes reminds adults -- especially in this hectic, fast-paced, just-do-it world -- that it is more than OK, it is desirable, to be child-like and to look up at the heavens and ask why." Toledo Blade "For anyone interested in natural history, there are few texts to rival this one." Booklist "As leaves fall and the sky becomes more noticeable, you're likely to look towards the heavens and wonder at their mysteries... Author Jerry Dennis and illustrator Glenn Wolff address the questions with intelligence, wit and artistry." Atlanta Constitution "A delightful book, both readable and informative -- like the best of Hal Borland and Edwin Way Teale...You've many hours of pleasure waiting with It's Raining Frogs and Fishes." Richmond Times-Dispatch "Parents take note: Here's how to explain comets (stars with horrid hair) and frost (flowers of ice)... surprisingly nontechnical." Detroit Free Press "With text that mesmerizes, drawings that enchant, and a dust jacket that simply feels good, this book calls you to hold it open before you." The Oakland Press "This wonderfully illustrated book will make heroes of parents and teachers, who will be able to explain nature's magic and the superstitions surrounding it." El Paso Times "This is a perfect choice for adults and kids alike who want to discover more about how the world is put together. Dennis has done a good job of entertaining and informing at the same time, and Glenn Wolff's black-and-white illustrations gracefully supplement the fact-filled text. It's enjoyable reading and a good reference for anyone's library." Sacramento Bee

Caution You may want to paddle every river Rapid by rapid, rock by rock descriptions of 1500 miles of canoeing opportunities on 45 blue-ribbon rivers by two experts who personally paddled every mile. A wealth of canoeing adventures from placid family floats to blood-curdling whitewater runs. Accurate, easy-to-follow maps show access sites, campgrounds, put-ins/take-outs, roads, bridges. . . and more. Concise, essential call-out data features gradient, rapids and falls, portages, skill required. . . and more. Clear, authoritative descriptions detail lengths, trip times, depth, current, bottom composition, widths, access information, parking facilities, fishing opportunities. . . and more.

A history of the Great Lakes as told by the biologists, fishermen, sailors, and others who have experienced them firsthand traces the author's experiences as a local resident and schooner crewperson. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Jerry Dennis has earned a reputation as one of the finest writers on nature and the outdoors in America today. Now in From a Wooden Canoe, he turns his attention to old passions and discovers new reasons to appreciate them.This engaging collection explores the quintessential American sports of canoeing and camping and pays tribute to the things worth keeping, from wooden canoes to pocket knives to cast-iron skillets. At a deeper level, it is about respect--for our possessions, for the natural world, for ourselves --and about the pleasures of a life well spent. From a Wooden Canoe is a celebration of the good things and the simple pleasures of life outdoors. It's a book to be treasured, to be read on winter evenings and rainy afternoons, and to be kept handy on a cabin shelf.

In this remarkable collection of essays and stories, Jerry Dennis demonstrates why he has emerged as one of America's finest writers on nature and the outdoors, drawing such comparisons as John Voelker, Sigurd Olson, and Aldo Leopold. Ranging from northern Michigan to Iceland, Chile, and the fabled rivers of the American West, Dennis explores and celebrates the simple pleasures (and complex challenges) of famiily life, the allure of giant trout, the sacredness of secret places, and such wonders as bad weather, quirky fishing companions, and the occasional naked angler. "The River Home" is a passionate record of life outdoors, crafted with clarity, insight, and wit--by a writer gifted with an instinct for what matters.

More than a collection of fishing stories, "A Place on the Water "is a passionate and eloquent exploration of subjects with broad appeal: love of land and water, informed and unsentimental appreciation of nature, and outrage at changes that threaten to obliterate places we can no longer afford to take for granted. In clear and sparkling prose, Jerry Dennis transports us to a world that every angler dreams of-where the very next cast will be the one that hooks something enormous and wonderful.