BOOK DISCUSSION: Great Lakes/Great Books

Now in its 11th season, Great Lakes/Great Books meets the first Thursday of the month September – May to discuss books that have the Great Lakes as setting or subject matter or that are related to water and/or the Great Lakes region. All are welcome, whether you have read the book or not! This month’s selection is Wilderness, Water, and Rust: A Journey toward Great Lakes Resilience by Jane Elder.

About the book:

Wilderness, Water, and Rust asks us to consider what we value about life in the Great Lakes region an dhow caring for its remarkable ecosystems might help us imagine new, whole futures. Weaving together memories from her life in the Upper Midwest with nearly fifty years of environmental policy advocacy work, Jane Elder provides a uniquely moving insider’s perspective into the quest to protect the Great Lakes and surrounding public lands, from past battles to save Michigan wilderness and shape early management strategies for the national lakeshores to present fights against toxic pollution and climate change. Elder argues that endless cycles of resource exploitation and boom and bust created a ‘rust belt’ legacy that still threatens our capacity for resilience. The author lays out the challenges that lie ahead and invites us to imagine bold new strategies through which we might thrive.