NEWS from SAUGATUCK/DOUGLAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Kit Lane
(269) 857-2781
kitlane@wmol.com

EARLY IMPORTANCE OF THE KALAMAZOO RIVER
TOPIC OF SAUGATUCK MUSEUM "TUESDAY TALK"

SAUGATUCK (MI), AUGUST 21, 2007 -- "Four Towns and a River Named Kalamazoo" will headline the weekly "Tuesday Talk" at the Saugatuck-Douglas Museum, August 28, 11:00 to 11:50 a.m. Seating is limited; early arrival is urged.

Saugatuck historian/author Kit Lane shares insights gleaned from research for the first of her "Rivers of Michigan" book series, published last year (Pavilion Press, Douglas) titled The Kalamazoo, which traces the river and its history back to its headwaters south of Jackson in Hillsdale County. With the help of old maps, photographs and postcards, Lane follows the river and observes its influence on Albion, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Plainwell, Otsego, and ultimately its Lake Michigan port towns of Douglas and Saugatuck.

Noting that many people who live along our rivers don't know where their river comes from or where it goes, Lane looks back at the role the Kalamazoo played in west Michigan history, and at the four towns along its length that at some point were named "Kalamazoo".

Lane's second "Rivers" book, The Grand, became available August 5, 2007, to be followed by The Raisin in 2008. Current plans envision the fourth book as The St. Joseph soon after. To date, Lane has written more than 20 books, including biographies of earlier Michigan leaders Lucius Lyon, our first state senator, and Ann Arbor founder John Allen, plus historical works on the Saugatuck area and historical atlases for both Allegan and Ottawa Counties. She also authored Ohio vs. Michigan: Guns Across the Maumee -- the story of the Toledo war and Michigan statehood -- and Between the Bridges, a fictional work of historically accurate short stories set in Saugatuck between 1835 and 1984.

In addition, Lane is credited with four of the six award-winning books published by the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society in association with Wayne State University Press between 1997 and 2005.

Founded in 1992, the Saugatuck-Douglas Museum occupies the historic Saugatuck Pump House at 735 Park Street, along the west shore of the Kalamazoo River at Mt. Baldhead Park, a short walk north from the Saugatuck Chain Ferry landing. Admission and parking are free. Tel: (269) 857-7900.xxxxxxx

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