Answers to Time-Honored Journalistic Questions

This was the notice on the bookstore door, reminding people that our kick-off 20th anniversary year event was being held at Brew North coffee house. So that answers the Who? and Where? questions, I hope. The When? was yesterday, Thursday afternoon, April 18.

It was great! The whole high school came!

How? Loreen Niewenhuis is a terrific presenter -- personable, engaging, down-to-earth, and often funny. The students and others in the audience clearly appreciated both her sense of adventure and the scientific research she does before and during her long lakeshore walks. Loreen alternated reading from her book (she has a lovely reading voice, soft yet perfectly audible and well articulated) and taking questions from the audience. The variety gave a comfortable informality to a very professional presentation.

I've said Loreen is engaging. The students were engaged. They were attentive. They asked excellent questions. I was so happy to connect local students -- at last -- with one of the many top-notch visiting authors who have come to Dog Ears Books over the years. I hope this will be only the first of many such engagements. Why? Does anyone need to ask why? I hope not!

Following the presentation came the usual milling around, more informal chat with the author, a bit of bookselling, and gift Dog Ears Books pens for all in attendance -- except that we ran out of pens, so a couple students will have to pick theirs up at the bookstore. "No problem," they assured me. 

Loreen hung out at the bookstore afterwards until close to 5 o'clock, when we went next door for a bite at the Garage Bar & Grill, where David joined us, all of us well satisfied with our day. 

Many, many, many thanks to English teacher Jenny Walter for helping to put this event together, and many, many, many thanks to Erik and Deirdre Owen for volunteering their space at Brew North, as well as to Dominic Iseli-Smith for helping set up ahead of time. This was a true community effort and success. 

And now it's time for me to turn my attention and energy to painting my new bookstore wall.

Change Is in the Wind

Sign of things to come -- soon!

Please read the sign!

In the photo above, you see the sign for Red Mullein, the gallery that has been operating down in the old Depot building by the marina parking lot and soon to re-open at 106 Waukazoo Street. Clare is very busy these days, moving furniture and stock, but I'll let you know when she's ready to open for business.

As for Dog Ears Books, we are still open, with a few changes, one of which is our new street entrance. It's going to take some getting used to (who will learn faster, Sarah or me?), and we'll need to move our OPEN flag holder, too.

our new entrance

The new door is fully functional, but when you come in -- if you come in this week or next -- you'll see why we don't plan to hold next week's guest author event in the bookstore. Reminder: That will be Loreen Niewenhuis, coming to introduce you to and sign copies for customers of her new book, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk, and the plan is still to gather from 12:15 to 2:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, April 18, across the street at Brew North, where's lots of room for Northporters and visitors of all ages.

Because -- this is what the bookstore looked like inside yesterday, Wednesday, April 10:

We have a temporary plastic wall!

We're a little crowded, too.

When the new drywall is all mudded and sanded, and the new wall painted, and bookstore shelving and furniture moved into permanent position against the new wall (well, as permanent as anything is in this business and this life), the picture will be completely different.

For now? We are still OPEN! We're also still on our winter (remodeling) hours, Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You should use the new door to access the bookstore, and then -- pardon our dust and the current odd arrangement of our art books. As Loretta Castorini's father, played by Vincent Gardenia, said in the movie "Moonstruck" (one of my all-time favorite films), "Everything is temporary!" So we certainly can't let our bookstore life come to a stop, as long as it continues to evolve.

This view will change by month's end....

She (Not I) Walked Another 1,000 Miles!

New on left, first on right --

She has a lot of energy, to put it mildly. Loreen Niewenhuis burst upon the Michigan literary scene four years ago with a blog. Her project was to walk the shoreline of Lake Michigan, beginning in Chicago, going north through Michigan and around the top of the lake through the Upper Peninsula, south along the Wisconsin shoreline, and back to Chicago. She did it and put her story into a book, A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach (2011).

Having accomplished all this, Loreen immediately began planning her next project, and when spring of 2012 came around, she began walking selected stretches of all the Great Lakes – another 1,000 miles total – and yes, there is now another book, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk (2013).

Besides boundless energy, Niewenhuis brings other special talents to her on-site observations and later retelling of her adventures. She has background as a cancer researcher, for one thing, and her trained scientific eye and mind see all kinds of details that others would miss while walking on the beach. Her engaging personality makes a difference, too. Private property owners along the lakeshores and audiences for her public appearances alike find Loreen’s enthusiasm and friendliness irresistible. It was true when she first visited Dog Ears Books, and it was true again when she gave a talk at the Leelanau Township Public Library.

And now Loreen is coming back to Northport! If you’ve noticed the announcement in the right-hand column of this blog, you’re not surprised, but there are a couple more unusual aspects to the story.

(1) What is a “pre-launch” of a new book? Well, Loreen is making her book available to independent booksellers eight weeks before it will officially be for sale online. She’s giving us a head start, bless her heart!

(2) There’s also the matter of the ongoing remodeling project at 106 Waukazoo. Added to my having invited Northport high school students to meet Loreen and hear about her adventure, I had created quite a challenge for myself. Business neighbors to the rescue! Erik and Deirdre Owen of Motovino and Brew North, the same people who have brought live music to Northport on Friday nights, offered their space for my event.

(This morning at Brew North, as I work....)

So our bookstore season opener event will not even be held at the bookstore, but I’m feeling very good about it nonetheless. We’ll be right across the street, able to accommodate a big crowd, and to the energy of Loreen Niewenhuis we’ll be adding the energy of Erik and Deirdre Owen and the energy of Northport High School students and teachers. The rest of the northern Michigan public is more than welcome to this event, also! The more, the merrier!

Yes, there’s big energy in Northport, so come experience it for yourself on Thursday, April 18, from 12:15 to 2:15 at Brew North, at the corner of Waukazoo and Nagonaba. Following the author visit in the Big Store building, we’ll cross the street and be back at Dog Ears Books until 5 p.m. That’s only two weeks from this coming Thursday. Sound good?