Great Lakes Island Escapes Book Cover
Maureen Dunphy Award-winning author badges - Midwest Book Award, Indie Book Award and Michigan Notable Books.

Great Lakes Island Escapes

Ferries and Bridges to Adventure

By Maureen Dunphy

A 2017 Michigan Notable Book – 1 of 20 selected annually

The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth. The more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout the basin provide some of the best ways to enjoy the Great Lakes.  While the vast majority of these islands can only be reached by private boat or plane, a surprising number of islands—each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history—can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.

Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure explores in depth over 30 of the Great Lakes Basin islands accessible by bridge or ferry and introduces more than 50 additional islands.  38 chapters include helpful information about getting to each featured island, what to expect when you get there, the island’s history, and what natural and historical sites and cultural attractions are available to visitors.  Each chapter lists special island events, where to get more island information, and how readers can help support the island. Author Maureen Dunphy made numerous trips to a total of 135 islands that are accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin. On each trip, Dunphy was accompanied by a different friend or relative who provided her with another adventurer’s perspective through which to view the island experience.

For more information, or to purchase a copy, please visit the Wayne State University Press website at wsupress.wayne.edu.

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Praise for Great Lakes Island Escapes

“Part travelogue and part fact-filled guidebook, Maureen Dunphy’s Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure presents the reader with an insightful and engaging account of the history, natural wonders, recreational opportunities, and local flavor of more than two dozen Great Lakes Basin islands.”

— Phil Porter

Director of Mackinac State Historic Parks

“As a kid growing up on Grosse Ile, I was considered an ‘Islander.’ In Great Lakes Island Escapes, Maureen Dunphy skillfully weaves the information you need in order to visit with tales of why adventures in the middle of the Great Lakes are always superior to those on the mainland.”

Jim Dufresne

Author, Isle Royale National Park: Foot Trails and Water Routes

“In this informative and entertainingly written book, Maureen Dunphy portrays these very special places from all across the Great Lakes. In doing so, she is able to beautifully capture the essence of the phrase ‘Island Time.’ This book will be a fine addition to the travel literature of our Inland Seas.”

— Arthur M. Woodford

Author, This Is Detroit: 1701 – 2001 (Wayne State University Press, 2001) and Michigan Companion (Omnigraphics, 2011)

“In Great Lakes Island Escapes, Maureen Dunphy presents the islands as a network of understanding. Called minisan in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), these little bits of earth are the ears and eyes and bellybuttons of Gichigaming, the single system of five connected Great Lakes. These are the places where senses are heightened, where the connection between land, water, and life is more apparent. In each stopping place, Dunphy shares the necessary details for navigation and recounts the way spirits are lifted, moose are greeted, lives are remembered, and fires are kindled. She helps readers see the balance between silent ancient gardens and the hum of ferry motors, lighthouses and shipwrecks, the natural and the hand-hewn. Mostly she helps readers hear the call of the lakes and the little islands strung like stars around them. It would be hard to read this book without heading for one of the islands in real life or your next dream.”

Margaret Noodin

Assistant professor in English and American Indian studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and author of Weweni (Wayne State University Press, 2015)

Great Lakes Island Escapes is a combination of the author’s personal experience and loving reminiscences woven in with history, photographs, cultural attractions, local color, and her recommendations for each island’s most compelling sites and captivating activities. Whether you’re a Great Lakes island aficionado or a curious adventurer, Maureen Duphy’s unique guidebook is an essential, intimate, traveling companion.”

 Michael Steinberg

Founding editor of Fourth Genre: Exploration in Nonfiction and author of Still Pitchingwinner of the 2003 Foreword Magazine Gold Medal for Memoir/Autobiography

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