Monday, August 13, 2018

Maureen Dunphy Speaks at the Library


By Frank Boles

On a hot, muggy summer’s evening in mid-Michigan it isn’t hard to dream about escaping to an island somewhere on the Great Lakes. One can imagine escaping the summer doldrums, sitting along the beach, enjoying the breeze, watching the sun set, and reflecting on just how good life is.

Maureen Dunphy, author of Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure,(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2016) spoke at the library on July 17. The book began one day while she and her husband were on Mackinac Island enjoying a do-it-yourself happy hour and began thinking about other Great Lakes islands they could visit. She decided that she wanted to live the dream, and she went looking for a book that talked about Great Lakes island vacations that began somewhere other than the Star Line dock. She discovered that no one had written such a volume. How many islands could there be, she reasoned. Maybe thirty or forty at most? And how much fun could someone have going to them and writing about the islands and the experiences of visiting them?


It turned out in writing the book Dunphy visited 136 islands that can be reached either by publicly accessible bridges or by travelling on regularly scheduled ferries. The book describes them all; although for purposes of the presentation Ms. Dunphy talked about five delightful destinations; one in each of the five Great Lakes.

One of the trips she described was going to Lake Superior’s Island Royale. The national park that protects the archipelago of about 450 islands, of which Isle Royale is the largest island. It is one of the most challenging places on the lakes to reach by public conveyance. Ms. Dunphy went by a ferry that leaves from Minnesota: a 6.5 hour cruise that completely circles the island. (for those sentimentally inclined for a storied three hour cruise, leave from Copper Harbor, Michigan – but three hours is not enough time to circumnavigate Isle Royale). She admitted some trepidation about such a long boat ride but the time passed magically as she watched the extraordinary views and scenery the cruise offered. She did remark, however, that the day was sunny and the lake calm. A 7.5 hour cruise on a roiling Lake Superior might not, she conceded, be as magical.

The natural beauty of the island struck her, but so too did the ability of people to reach and enjoy this remote spot. Reading from her book, ”Isle Royale is where you go to return the wilderness to your soul.” But wilderness doesn’t necessarily mean roughing it with backpacks, tents, and freeze dried food for supper. Dunphy stayed in a lodge maintained by the National Park Service with a “wonderful” restaurant and a conveniently located bar and grille.

Similarly, not everyone who visits the island plans a marathon adventure. A family of five, one of whom regularly used a wheelchair, had made the trip and took advantage of the handicap trail next to the lodge. A married couple, respectively 94 and 92 years of age, were also guests in the lodge. When asked why they had come, they responded, “well, you know, we just decided if not now, then when?”

Each of the islands Ms. Dunphy described had its own charms and challenges. All of those in her book reminded us of the joys of getting away, and of living on “island time.” As she remarked in closing, island time begins at the ferry dock. The published schedule is more a suggestion then a completely reliable form of documentation. Fog, engine trouble, or a “fender-bender” between the ferry and a yacht docked nearby that require the Coast Guard to write up a report for the insurance company (it really happened), can all cause you to learn quickly how time, and life, work on an island.

It was a pleasant talk, one which those who heard it likely will recall the next hot, muggy summer night they experience. As they wait for a Canadian cold front to sweep across the state, they may pull out a copy of Great Lakes Island Escapes and begin to plan their own escape to an island on the lakes.