The author of Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses shares tales of disaster and misfortune on the Great Lakes. Losing one's life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse sadly wasn't such an unusual occurrence. Death by murder, suicide or other tragic causes--while rare--were not unheard of. Two keepers on Lake Superior's Grand Island disappeared one early summer day in 1908, their decomposed remains found weeks later. A newly hired and some say depressed keeper on Pilot Island in Wisconsin's Door County slit his own throat after a consultation with a local butcher about the location of the jugular vein. A smallpox outbreak in the late 1890s led to the tragic death of a lighthouse hired hand on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. Join author Dianna Stampfler as she uncovers the facts (and debunks some fiction) behind some of the Great Lakes' darkest lighthouse tales.

Travel Michigan’s coast—and into the state’s history—with otherworldly tales of the spirits of those who sought to keep its waters safe. Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings. Former keepers like the cigar-smoking Captain Townshend at Seul Choix Point and prankster John Herman at Waugoshance Shoal near Mackinaw City maintain their watch long after death ended their duties. At White River Light Station in Whitehall, Sarah Robinson still keeps a clean and tidy house, and a mysterious young girl at the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse seeks out other children and female companions. Countless spirits remain between Whitefish Point and Point Iroquois in an area well known for its many tragic shipwrecks. Join author and Promote Michigan founder Dianna Stampfler as she recounts the tales from Michigan’s ghostly beacons. “Haunting tales of Michigan’s lighthouses . . . Her stories come from lighthouse museums, friends and family.”—Great Lakes Echo

With hundred of original illustrations, Tales of the Great Lakes encompasses the stories of the men who built the Midwest,

Storytelling at its fully imagined best." -Ben Hamper, bestselling author of Rivethead

The author provides an account of his experiences as a crew member on a tall-masted schooner during a six-week voyage through the Great Lakes, and discusses his other explorations of the lakes, looking at their history, geology, and environmental disaster and rescue.

The Waugoshance Lighthouse was the first offshore lighthouse on the Great Lakes and it has been left abandoned for decades. This is the story of one man's fictional visit to this historic beacon to shine a light from the tower one last time before it crumbles into Lake Michigan. Through the challenges of living one more day in isolation at the forgotten lighthouse the history of Great Lakes Lighthouses comes to life. Woven throughout the story are true tales of the men and women who worked at these historic beacons keeping the light on to guide sailors. It also contains the history of lighthouse on the Great Lakes and how the light mechanism and fog signals worked long before electricity became available. If you love lighthouses, or a good adventure story, you will enjoy reading this book.

Toledo's history as a frontier town turned manufacturing powerhouse is well known. However, few know that it was once home to a champion racehorse. Many are unaware that East Toledo's verdant urban woodlands sprang from the work of just one man or that a local girl's meteoric rise in Golden Age Hollywood saw her play alongside Groucho Marx. Fewer still have heard of Officer Dell Hair, crime fighter and rhyme maker who walked the beat and walked into the history books as a celebrated cop-poet. These tales and more await as award-winning local broadcaster Lou Hebert shines a light into the forgotten corners of Glass City history.