Midwest Book Review on Raymond Luczak’s Compassion Michigan

The Literary Fiction Shelf

Raymond Luczak
Modern History Press
5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48105-9627
9781615995288, $33.95, HC, 200pp
Synopsis: Doesn’t history matter anymore? Could we still have compassion for others who don’t share our views? Encompassing some 130 years in Ironwood’s history, “Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood Stories” by Raymond Luczak (who is a Yooper native, and either the author or the editor of 24 books — including Flannelwood) illuminates characters struggling to adapt to their circumstances starting in the present day, with its subsequent stories rolling back in time to when Ironwood was first founded.
As an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling skill set that keeps the readers total and rapt attention to what they are reading, author Raymond Lucazk has created an impressive body of work with “Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood Stories”
These are deftly crafted and engaging stories about what does it mean to live in a small town (so laden with its glory day reminiscences) against the stark economic realities of today:
  • A Deaf woman, born into a large, hearing family, looks back on her turbulent relationship with her younger, hearing sister.
  • A gas station clerk reflects on Stella Draper, the woman who ran an ice cream parlor only to kill herself on her 33rd birthday.
  • A devout mother has a crisis of faith when her son admits that their priest molested him.
  • A bank teller, married to a soldier convicted of treason during the Korean War, gradually falls for a cafeteria worker.
  • A young transgender man, with a knack for tailoring menswear, escapes his wealthy Detroit background for a chance to live truly as himself in Ironwood.
  • When a handsome single man is attracted to her, a popular schoolteacher enters into a marriage of convenience only to wonder if she’s made the right decision.

Raymond Luczak, author of Compassion, Michigan

Critique: The twin roles of the literary short story are to entertain and to provoke thought. As an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling skill set that keeps the readers total and rapt attention to what they are reading, author Raymond Lucazk has created an impressive body of work with “Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood Stories”. While especially and unreservedly recommended for both community and college/university library Contemporary American Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that “Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood Stories” is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781615995271, $21.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.95).

Editorial Note: Raymond Luczak is a Yooper native, is the author and editor of 24 books, including Flannelwood.

Make It Go in the Snow [PB]

SKU 978-1-61599-814-2
$21.95
People and Ideas in the History of Snowmobile
1
Product Details
UPC: 978-1-61599-814-2
Brand: Modern History Press
Binding: Paperback
Audiobook: Audible, iTunes
Edition: 1st
Author: Larry Jorgensen
Pages: 194
Publication Date: 08/01/2024

Through the years, the challenge of powered transportation in the snow has been met with ideas from explorers, creative inventors and small companies, all with new ideas - often unique and sometimes successful. The name "snowmobile" was trademarked in 1917, but there were snow travel ideas before that date and certainly thousands more since.

Winter explorers and trailblazers sought to replace their dogsleds and snowshoes as they explored difficult locations, including remote locations, on the north and south poles. Early inventors of snow vehicles often scavenged parts from many mechanical devices, trying many power and propulsion methods, from 2- and 4-stroke engines to air propulsion, and even a "snow biting" screw auger concept.

The snow travel ideas from some early inventors were simply designed to solve their own needs; others came from entrepreneurs who believed folks would be impressed and want to buy their creations. Some of their ideas evolved into companies such as Polaris, Arctic Cat and Ski-Doo, which prospered and now can trace their roots back to that first snowmobile idea.

Make It Go In The Snow provides a fun look at the history of a few of the many thousands of snow travel ideas and those enthusiasts who gave them birth. Captured and recorded are a wide variety of snowmobile ideas, without offering judgment on any individual venture. Join me as I pay tribute to all those ideas; past, present and future. But keep watching, because more snow excitement is waiting to be created.

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