The Dynamic Great Lakes

A Critically Acclaimed non-fiction book about the five Great Lakes

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available in the new edition at Barnes & Noble online or in stores. It is also available at Schuler Books and Music, The Bookman, Amazon.com (paper and Kindle edition) and many other fine stores.

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available on Kindle

Now available on Kindle

To learn about the Great Lakes and their interesting features, The Dynamic Great Lakes is for you.

Now updated in a fourth edition, Amazon has made the book available on the Kindle e reader as well as in paperback. The book is concise and suitable for all readers.

Our Inland Seas

watercolor by Barbara Spring

My watercolor of a tern flying over a turbulent lake. These birds seem to love the air streams that flow over the lakes. Lake Michigan can be wild, but so can the other lakes. The shallowest, Lake Erie can become violent and boaters should know this before heading out.

Lake Superior is known for its storms and there are many ship wrecks lying on the bottoms of all the lakes. The waters surrounding Door Peninsula in Lake Michigan, once called Death’s Door in Wisconsin was fatal for many ships. The Bruce Peninsula in Canada is the place where many ships went down. I have taken glass bottom boats in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to view sunken ships. These lakes behave more like oceans. They are called inland seas for good reasons.

Review of The Dynamic Great Lakes

One of the first reviewers of my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes was Norman Goldman. Here is his review:

The Dynamic Great Lakes

Many of us know very little about the five Great Lakes other than perhaps being able to name them. As Barbara Spring states in her introduction to her outstanding primer The Dynamic Great Lakes they are “a flowing river of seas left behind by Ice Age glaciers and are nearly twenty percent of the world’s supply of fresh surface water; the world’s greatest freshwater system.”

The ecosystem of this great body of water is very complex and unfortunately due to pollution and the fallout of modern industry and agriculture they have gone through a gradual transformation.

One of the unique characteristics of this compact book is that it is written in a language devoid of esoteric explanations. The eight chapters of the book reflect the author’s teaching and journalistic aptitudes in knowing how to unravel the mystery of the Great Lakes and the many painful dangers it has faced and continues to face.

Each of the five Lakes is introduced with a brief synopsis of important elements distinguishing one from the other such as: elevation, length, breadth, average depth, maximum depth, volume, water area, retention time, population and outlet. From this point of departure the author deals with the various changes that have taken place as well as the various major issues affecting the Lakes.

There are also brief descriptions of the various animal life found in each of the Lakes and how they have been affected by pollution and the appearance of harmful species, such as the Lamprey Eel.

However, we are also reminded throughout the reading of the book that “people power” can have an effect and if we band together and make our voices heard we could exert influence in reversing some of the harmful trends that have caused ecological disaster.

For example we are apprised of the situation that occurred in relation to Lake Erie. In 1969 a tributary river of Lake Erie, the Cayahoga, caught on fire due to being heavily coated with oil and debris. As a result, the Federal Water Quality Administration launched a one and half billion dollar municipal sewage treatment program for the Erie Basin which included the five surrounding states: Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

The conclusion of the book most appropriately reminds us that: “we are all challenged to use our knowledge, creativity and common sense to keep the Great Lakes great. Can you think of ways to think globally and act locally?” We are also warned “life on earth is only possible as long as our limited life support system works.”

Copyright 2002, Bookideas.com. Originally published at Bookideas.com.

The Edmond Fitzgerald Gordon Lightfoot

The power of the Great Lakes must be respected. This ballad tells the story and the videos of the Fitzgerald are a fitting tribute to the lost mariners who went down with their ship on this day 35 years ago.

All Great Lakes Connected

The Great Lakes are a marvelous freshwater system shared by the United States and Canada.  Only Lake Michigan is entirely within the United States.

Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are all connected and have their outlet through the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Many shipwrecks lie on the bottoms of these powerful lakes.  The cold fresh water preserves them but since zebra mussels entered the lakes accidentally, these shipwrecks are encrusted with them.  It is illegal for divers to take things from these shipwrecks.

There are places where glass bottomed boats will take tourists to see what lies below.