Join the Kalkaska Library for a book talk and local author signing!
Northern Michigan author Tim Mulherin will be visiting the Coldsprings Branch library to discuss his new book: This Magnetic North. Q&A session and book signing included.
Join us on Thursday, June 26th at 5:00pm.
Located at the Coldsprings Branch Library:
6515 County Rd 571, Mancelona, MI
This event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Questions? Contact the library!
Call us at (231) 258-9411
or email at
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About This Magnetic North:
What happens when a place is so beautiful that everyone wants to go there—and then they stay? Tim Mulherin’s newest 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.
About the Author:
Tim Mulherin first visited northern Michigan in 1986 and, like most everyone who comes here, was instantly smitten by it. In the early 2000s he found work in the Ann Arbor area then later Grayling, failed attempts to move closer to the Grand Traverse region due to his dear wife’s reluctance to leave her ancestral home in Indianapolis (six Hoosier grandchildren haven’t helped his cause, either). Nonetheless, he wrote about his love for northern Michigan’s incomparable scenic splendor and his humorous tries to become a Michigander in his collection of essays and stories titled Sands, Stars, Wind, and Water: Field Notes from Up North (2021).
Now a seasonal resident of Leelanau County, Mulherin began conceptualizing This Magnetic North: Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan during a conversation with Traverse City writer Dave Dempsey. Over coffee, Mulherin wondered aloud why no one had written a book about the impact of the pandemic, climate change, and tourism on northwest lower Michigan. Dempsey responded, “Why not you?” So, here you have it.
Mulherin holds a bachelor of arts in English, with a concentration in nonfiction writing, from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He also earned a master of arts in journalism from IUPUI and a master of science in management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He taught nonfiction writing for nearly a decade in IUPUI’s Department of English.
Mulherin has enjoyed a richly varied career, including working for the state of Indiana in emergency management and for insurance and healthcare nonprofits, all while in management positions. He concluded his formal professional career working for one of Indiana’s oldest and largest K-12 public charter schools, serving as chief executive officer during his final five years there. Mulherin is a frequent contributor to the Glen Arbor Sun newspaper, and his writing has appeared in Traverse Magazine. He is currently writing a book on Michigan and Indiana’s wildlife.
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