Summers at the Lake: Jon Stott Shares Cherished U.P. Memories

Many treasures are non-material-like a loving family or wonderful friends, like health and peace of mind, or like beautiful memories of special places and moments. Jon C. Stott relives the latter in his new book Summers at the Lake (Modern History Press, 2022).

Summers at the Lake
Image @ Modern History Press

In these autobiographical personal essays, Stott puts in words many golden memories of his lakeside life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and those of his childhood days on Canada’s west coast. Each essay brings to life scenes of living in nature in all its purity and peace: paddling a canoe into sunrise on the longest day of the year, watching a child take her first kayak ride with her father, gazing at a bald eagle, riding air currents high above the lake, witnessing a hummingbird defend his feeder against intruders, and dodging campfire smoke while burning marshmallows and telling scary stories to wide-eyed kids.

In style, Stott’s essays read like prose poems. In mood, they bring together the romantic-the joy of simple, lakeside living in nature-and the reflective. And the two together also hold good therapeutic value. In his words:

These essays are meditations about the joys of simple lake side events and encounters with the world of nature.

Summers at the Lake is mainly inspired by two lakes that co-exist in the author’s mind and soul. First is Shawnigan Lake, on the west coast of Canada, where the author spent his childhood and early teen summers. Included in memories of those days are a few of the essays his father, Art Stott, a newspaper man, wrote about those years, i.e., 1940-1955. The second one is Crooked Lake, a small lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the author has spent extended summers since 1985.

Sharon Brunner, of U.P. Book Review, praises Stott’s work for capturing the wonders of U.P. She notes, “In Summers at the Lake, much can be learned about life in the U.P. and its enjoyable places. You can explore the wonders of the U.P. while dipping your toes into the everyday experiences of life near Crooked Lake.”

Bob Rich, author of From Depression to Contentment, compares the therapeutic power of experiencing nature’s peace to that of reading Stott’s essays. He says that reading Summers at the Lake will give you the same benefits as meditating in lovely surroundings in peace and calmness.

Jon Stott’s Summers at the Lake is officially coming out in print on the 1st of May, 2022. For details and updates, follow www.ModernHistoryPress.com.

Summers at the Lake [PB]

978-1-61599-669-8
$17.95
Upper Michigan Moments and Memories
In stock
1
Product Details
UPC: 978-1-61599-669-8
Brand: Modern History Press
Binding: Paperback
Audiobook: Audible, iTunes
Edition: 1st
Author: Jon C. Stott
Illustrator: Deb Le Blanc'
Pages: 142
Publication Date: 05/01/2022

Paddling a canoe into sunrise on the longest day of the year... watching a child take her first kayak ride with her father... gazing at a bald eagle, riding air currents high above the lake... chuckling as a hummingbird defends his feeder against intruders... dodging campfire smoke while burning marshmallows and telling scary stories to wide-eyed kids. These are some of the moments and memories depicted in Summers at the Lake. The essays-often humorous; sometimes tinged with a sweet melancholy--celebrate the people and events marking the progress of the seasons--from the budding of the first green leaves of May to their falling, gold and scarlet, in September. These prose poems capture the joy of simple, lake-side living and quiet reflection."

"Jon Stott is a masterful storyteller. In Summers at the Lake, he shares memories that read like prose poetry. Each story takes us to a place of solitude and beauty and will stir pleasant memories of our own." --Sharon Kennedy, author of The Sideroad Kids: Tales from Chippewa County

"This gentle book by a gentle man is the kind that grows on you. Reading it will give you the same benefits as meditating in lovely surroundings in peace and calmness." --Bob Rich, author of From Depression to Contentment

"In Summers at the Lake, much can be learned about life in the U.P. and its enjoyable places. You can explore the wonders of the U.P. while dipping your toes into the everyday experiences of life near Crooked Lake." --Sharon Brunner, U.P. Book Review

"Jon C. Stott delightfully describes the many joys of lakeside living with the unchanging activities of summer. Deb Le Blanc's photos will make readers feel as if they are right there at the cabin, next to the author." --Carolyn Wilhelm, MA, Midwest Book Review

From Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

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