This Magnetic North
Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan
by Tim Mulherin
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Pub Date Jun 01 2025 | Archive Date May 31 2025
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Description
This book explores a phenomenon occurring around Michigan’s Great Lakes and other high-demand scenic locations across the country: natural landscapes are undergoing profound human and climatological change as people pick up their lives and move to bucolic locations. The Grand Traverse region in northwest lower Michigan has been one of the most impacted regions in the state, with the population increase accelerated by the pandemic and climate change. The impact of this growth is explored through field observations and interviews involving dozens of born-and-raised locals, “boomerangers” (those who grew up, left, then returned), and relocators. The author explores the tensions between newcomers and “natives.” Interviewees include tourist industry leaders, conservationists, business owners, public safety officials, tribal members, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore officials, and more. These voices characterize the region’s diverse views, providing insight into how one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country is attempting to balance environmental preservation with an influx of people. Northwest lower Michigan’s story of transformation, as tradition collides with progress, holds many lessons and will resonate with everyone who has ever lived in or visited such an enchanting place and dreams of calling it home.
A Note From the Publisher
Media and Community Engagement: Mulherin is a known contributor to local publications like the Glen Arbor Sun and Traverse Magazine, which likely serve as early promotional outlets for the book
Advance Praise
“This Magnetic North is a deep conversation about Northern Michigan and the ever-increasing pressure of climate change and migration coupled with the intensifying, almost tectonic force of tourism. This book is an odyssey to be savored and taken in. It is essential reading for anyone who claims to love Northern Michigan for its beauty.”
—Michael Delp, author of The Mad Angler: Poems and coeditor emeritus of the Made in Michigan Writers Series
“Tim Mulherin’s journey through diverse and fascinating lived experiences in Michigan’s Grand Traverse region reveals residents and aspirational residents in flux who still share a loving commitment to one of the Great Lakes’ most magical landscapes. This Magnetic North offers visions for a place worth stewarding through the uncertain futures of economic inequality and climate change.”
—Lynne Heasley, author of The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes
“Tim Mulherin’s book This Magnetic North offers a thoughtful, curious, and whimsical window into our up-north paradise, and how the pandemic, climate change, and our robust — some would say “too robust”—tourism marketing network has changed the human experience in the Leelanau and Grand Traverse region.”
—Jacob Wheeler, editor and publisher of the Glen Arbor Sun, and journalism instructor at Northwestern Michigan College
Marketing Plan
2025 Upcoming Events:
June
• June 11 (Wednesday): WTCM’s Ron Jolly Show — NewsTalk 580 AM, Interview @ 9:10 a.m — Traverse City, Michigan
• June 12 (Thursday): Bellaire Public Library, Author Talk @ 6:30 p.m. — Bellaire, Michigan
• June 14 (Saturday): Horizon Books, Book Signing @ 1 p.m. — Traverse City, Michigan
• June 16 (Monday): Glen Lake Community Library, Author Talk @ 7 p.m.— Empire, Michigan
• June 18 (Wednesday): Leland Township Public Library — Author Talk @ 5 p.m. — Leland, Michigan
• June 24 (Tuesday): Beaver Island District Library, Author Talk (time TBD) — Beaver Island (St. James), Michigan
• June 25 (Wednesday): Interlochen Center for the Arts, Author Talk @ 4:45 p.m. — Interlochen, Michigan
• June 26 (Thursday): Kalkaska County Library — Cold Springs Branch Library, Author Talk @ 5 p.m. — Mancelona, Michigan
• June 30 (Monday): Benzie Shores District Library — Author Talk @ 5:30 p.m. — Frankfort, Michigan
July
• July 10 (Thursday): East Lansing Public Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — East Lansing, Michigan
• July 11 (Friday): The Folded Leaf, Book Signing, 5 p.m. — Cedar, Michigan
• July 15 (Tuesday): Otsego County Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Gaylord, Michigan
• July 17 (Thursday): Bayliss Public Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
August
• August 12 (Tuesday): Cheboygan Area Public Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Cheboygan, Michigan
• August 19 (Tuesday): Dexter District Library, Author Talk @ 7 p.m. — Dexter, Michigan
September
• September 8 (Monday): Amy Van Andel Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Ada, Michigan
• September 9 (Tuesday): Muskegon Area District Library — North Muskegon Branch, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Muskegon, Michigan
• September 12 (Friday): Suttons Bay Bingham District Library, Author Talk @ 5 p.m. — Suttons Bay, Michigan
• September 23 (Tuesday): Charlevoix Public Library, Author Talk @ 6 p.m. — Charlevoix, Michigan
December
• December 2 (Tuesday): Indianapolis Public Library — Irvington Branch, Author Talk @ 6:30 p.m. — Indianapolis, Indiana
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781611865363 |
| PRICE | $34.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 260 |
