Michigan Author & Illustrator Explore the Depths of the Great Lakes

The author of The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes, Lynne Heasley, and the illustrator of the book, Glenn Wolff, have released their latest book “In The Accidental Reef,” exploring the dark depths of the Great Lakes in the Fresh Coast State.

The book illuminates an underwater world that, despite a checkered industrial history, remains wondrous and worthy of care. From its first scene in a Great Lakes river where lake sturgeon thrash and spawn, this powerful book takes readers on journeys through the Great Lakes, alongside fish and fishers, scuba divers and scientists, toxic pollutants and threatened communities, oil pipelines and invasive species, Indigenous peoples and federal agencies. With dazzling illustrations from Glenn Wolff, the book helps us know the Great Lakes in new ways and grapple with the legacies and alternative futures that come from their abundance of natural wealth. Suffused with curiosity, empathy, and wit, The Accidental Reef will not fail to astonish and inspire.

The artistic duo will headline a virtual book launch from 5:30-6:30 on August 25, the newest event in FLOW’s Art Meets Water series. Click here to register for the free event.

“In The Accidental Reef, Lynne Heasley has done something extraordinary: she has woven together threads from fisheries ecology, environmental humanities, and literary nonfiction into a multifaceted tapestry illuminating the Great Lakes,” says Nancy Langston, author and distinguished professor of environmental history at Michigan Technological University. “Her arguments are intelligent, surprising, and provocative, and her writing is lyrical, offering us new insights on the watery creatures that make their homes in the Great Lakes.”

“Art Meets Water” is FLOW’s ongoing series of collaborations with committed writers, artists, and musicians, inspired by the ability of art to amplify our critical connection to water. The Great Lakes Belong to All of Us. “All of Us” speaks to the many kinds of beautiful diversity in our Great Lakes community.

“Developing a deep sense of stewardship for our Great Lakes also means celebrating the creativity and passion sparked by these magnificent freshwater resources,” says FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood. “Lynne’s fine words and Glenn’s wondrous illustrations inspire us to examine the fundamental questions that are so central to our work at FLOW: What does fresh water mean to our lives? And how can we protect it?”

Lynne Heasley is professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo. She is the author of A Thousand Pieces of Paradise: Landscape and Property in the Kickapoo Valley and co editor of Border Flows: A Century of the Canadian-American Water Relationship.

Glenn Wolff lives and works in Northern Michigan concentrating on fine art, book illustration, printmaking, music, and is on the full time faculty at Northwestern Michigan College. His mixed media artwork is represented by Tamarack Gallery in Omena, Michigan.

The book can be ordered online through MSU Press and Horizon Books in Traverse City.