The quiet days of January give me time (while a visitor quietly browses nearby) to take stock of special treasures on hand and introduce you to a few items that may have escaped notice when last you visited Dog Ears Books on Waukazoo Street. Today’s virtual display case highlights some very local out-of-print books, along with a couple of high-end periodicals.
First Protestant Mission in the Grand Traverse Region, by Ruth Craker, is a signed second edition from 1935. (The first printing of this local history was in 1932.) Some of the presentation would be questioned and probably modified today, but basic names, dates, and photographs will always be important.
Hans W. Anderson: His Life and Art, produced by the Leelanau Historical Museum in Leland in 1988, chronicles a man who is arguably the county’s foremost folk artist – and he lived right here on Waukazoo Street. The softcover book is illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs of his paintings and carved wood models.
Fred Petroskey: A Leelanau Portrait, by G.R. Kastys, is a limited edition hardcover book with dust jacket, my copy signed by the author. The subject, Fred Petroskey, who grew up in Lake Leelanau and returned in his later years, was the most important portrait painter in our region, and this collection shows many well-known local people, including a section of other local artists – among them David Grath, Suzanne Wilson, and Gene Rantz.
The Double Gun Journal was published in this region from 1989 through the spring of 2022, when it was unfortunately forced out of business for financial reasons. One cause of its demise, the publishers noted, was that younger generations were no longer interested in beautiful classic guns. I have all four issues from the year 1996 and one from 1995, and they are beautiful. Local note: This is the only periodical in which noted flyrod maker Bob Summers ever advertised.
Finally, for students and aficionados of fine art history, there is the FMR Magazine, created by Franco Maria Ricci and published from 1982 to 2009. History and beauty are never out of date, and when FMR himself calls this “the most beautiful magazine in the world,” it’s hard to dispute his claim. Section of issues from 1981 to 1985 available, each one lovelier than the last.
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