This past weekend my wife and I headed up to the Les Cheneaux area for a presentation on the Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes and a book signing event at the Les Cheneaux Historical Association’s (LCHA) museum in Cedarville, MI. This was a very special event for me since this is the area where the Rev. William H. Law settled after coming to the United States and a good portion of the book takes place in this area.
Prior to heading to the Les Cheneaux Historical Association’s museum, we stopped by the Law Family plot in Rockview Cemetery about 3 miles north of town. While there I paid my respects to the family and left a replica of one of the postcards that the Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes had sent out to all the Lighthouses and Life-Saving stations about one hundred years ago.
After visiting the family plot we stopped at Safe Harbor Books in Cedarville to see Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes on the shelf.
We had a short, but nice talk with the proprietor of the store who informed us that the book has been selling well in advance of the event at the LCHA museum. In fact they only had one copy left when we arrived.
We then headed tot he LCHA museum to set up for the event. I had been to the museum many times over the last few years while doing research for the book but I don’t think I have ever seen the members as happy as they were this day. They really went out of their way to make it a special event complete with snacks and beverages for all the attendees. They even offered me the opportunity to sell my own copies of the book instead of the copies they had on hand. It was very nice of them to offer but I declined as the profits from their sales would benefit the museum.
As people started to show up it was apparent that we would have a good crowd. Since this was my first official presentation on the book I was a little nervous but once I was introduced and started talking it was apparent that the audience was interested and the presentation went very well. After I wrapped up my talk I took questions from the audience, all of which where very good questions and luckily they were all questions I had answers for.
With the presentation complete it was time for the book signing. I made my way to the signing table as the attendees queued to have their book signed. I met many other descendants of the Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes, Rev. Law. We shared stories and had our pictures taken together. It was surreal for me but also really special. After the books were signed and the stories shared I was informed by Mary, the curator of the museum, that we broke attendance and sales records for these types of events. Needless to say we were all very happy.
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I have a few more book signing events coming up in Hillman, MI, Eagle Harbor, MI, Pte. Aux Barques Lighthouse and the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival in Alpena, MI. Please see my calendar on this site for details of each event.
If you wish to have a signed copy of the book but cannot make any of these events, Autographed Copies of Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes can now be ordered from me through the Square Marketplace.
John
His passion for the Great Lakes and its history grew from the stories handed down through both sides of his family about Rev. Law’s travels and relatives lost in the sinking of the S.S. Carl D. Bradley.
He currently resides with his wife, Kimberly, in Brooklyn, MI.
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