UP Writings

The Toll Booth on I-75 at the North End of the Mackinac Bridge.

Every time I drive across the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw City to the outskirts of St. Ignace, my heart races. Once, the Anishinaabe toll taker said, “Welcome home.” And that is how I feel. I am a native of Ishpeming, Michigan, and lived for 26 full years in the Upper Peninsula. I attended Suomi College and graduated with my B.A. in English from Northern Michigan University and taught there in the English department for five years. After leaving and moving elsewhere (Ohio, South Dakota, New York), I visited at Christmas and spent summers every year until 2022, when we sold our family home in Ishpeming. I still visit friends and relatives there. The Upper Peninsula (specifically Marquette County) is truly “home” in the mythic and spiritual sense. I have been a member of the Marquette Poets Circle since 2018. Here are some of my UP writings, many of them collected in my book, A Location in the Upper Peninsula (Sampo, 1995). It is available on Kindle.