"Bill Milliken has always been a thoroughgoing pluralist. He cherishes diversity and differences of opinion and he shuns extremism. . . . My hope is that history will show he was closer to the mark than the Republican Party of today." ---Congressman Sandy Levin
"This is an outstanding and long-overdue biography of a man who set the standard for how a political figure should behave in a civilized society. Anyone who wants to understand modern Michigan history-or who wants to know how our politics and government could be better today-ought to read this book." ---Jack Lessenberry
William Milliken, Michigan's longest-serving governor, stands as an icon of decency even among the state's most cynical political observers. Often seen by the public as a man above politics, Milliken was in truth an astute deal maker who governed by crafting coalitions with politicians that spanned the gamut from Detroit's hard-left Coleman Young to the rural conservatives of his own Republican Party.
Born in Traverse City, Michigan, Milliken fought in World War II and returned home to run the family business, served as lieutenant governor from 1965 to 1969, and was then elected to four-year terms in 1970, 1974, and 1978. Milliken stepped down after fourteen years and a record of education reform, environmental protection, urban policy, and civil rights-and a series of bruising tax fights.
Twenty years after leaving office Milliken's legacy of civility and willingness to work with political opponents stands tall. But his outspoken defense of traditional Republican values has cast him into a political no-man's land that makes this story as intensely emotional as it is relevant to today's no-holds barred politics.
Dave Dempsey presents a fully developed picture of Milliken that reveals both his strengths and weaknesses while also providing the political and historical context of Milliken's time in office-and the lessons of his life and career for current and future politicians and the public.
Dave Dempsey serves as Communications Director for Conservation Minnesota and consults for other environmental and conservation organizations across Minnesota and Michigan. He is author of William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate and Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader.

William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate

Biographies & Memoirs

Dempsey, Dave

Historical

PETOSKEY CO-PUB

Great Lakes for Sale is a book for anyone interested in saving the Great Lakes, a huge fresh-water system that contains an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water and about twenty percent of the world's fresh surface water. The book poses---and answers---important questions about the export and diversion of Great Lakes water. Not only does Great Lakes for Sale examine past and present water-diversion practices; it also shows readers what they can do to save this natural resource.It's difficult to understate the importance of the Great Lakes water system---economically, environmentally, or from a public-health perspective. The Great Lakes support year-round sport fishery, they provide a route for commercial and recreational navigation, and they supply many communities with drinking water. Water means jobs and life in the Great Lakes region. And, while residents of this huge region revel in a seemingly limitless quantity of fresh water today, it's likely that the future will see that same fresh water grow ever more scarce as well as become a source of contention between thirsty communities---and corporations---further afield and those who live in this giant watershed.Great Lakes for Sale is an important part of the effort to remind people why commercialization of Great Lakes water is a dangerous threat. It's not simply a matter of how much water in the short term is removed; the long-term threat is control of water and the possibility that non-Great Lakes interests will assert ownership of the very substance of the Great Lakes.Dave Dempsey serves as Communications Director for Conservation Minnesota and consults for other environmental and conservation organizations across Minnesota and Michigan. He is author of William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate and Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader.

Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps

History

Americas

Ruin and Recovery tells the story of Michigan's cycles of resource exploitation and conservation from the early days of statehood in 1837 to the present day. Drawing from a large number of resources, including archival records and reminiscences, official documents and individual interviews, Ruin and Recovery charts the development of a conservation ethic in Michigan and chronicles the major battles for environmental protection since the late 1800s.
Michigan has faced two turning points in its conservation history. One came at the end of the nineteenth century when its logging era ended, only to be followed by raging forest fires that left millions of acres of land denuded. Ruin and Recovery's discussion of this first turning point is from historical records and the later recollections of survivors of the ruinous 1908 Metz forest fire in northeastern Lower Michigan. The second turning point came in the late 1960s, when water and air pollution prompted public outrage. This controversy is brought to life through interviews with local residents, scientists, and agency officials who observed the Kalamazoo River to be the most polluted in Michigan. Both turning points set the stage for the historic eras of rebuilding that followed.
Dave Dempsey serves as Communications Director for Conservation Minnesota and consults for other environmental and conservation organizations across Minnesota and Michigan. He is author of William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate and Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader.

Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader

Business & Money

Economics

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REGIONAL

Great Lakes for Sale is a book for anyone interested in saving the Great Lakes, a huge fresh-water system that contains an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water and about twenty percent of the world's fresh surface water. The book poses---and answers---important questions about the export and diversion of Great Lakes water. Not only does Great Lakes for Sale examine past and present water-diversion practices; it also shows readers what they can do to save this natural resource.It's difficult to understate the importance of the Great Lakes water system---economically, environmentally, or from a public-health perspective. The Great Lakes support year-round sport fishery, they provide a route for commercial and recreational navigation, and they supply many communities with drinking water. Water means jobs and life in the Great Lakes region. And, while residents of this huge region revel in a seemingly limitless quantity of fresh water today, it's likely that the

Univ of Michigan Pr

As one of the world’s great natural treasures, the Great Lakes have also served in recent decades as an early warning system for many emerging environmental problems. In the early twenty-first century, as the Lakes face unprecedented challenges, we need to revisit both the wonder of the Lakes and the perils plaguing them, and to take action to protect this majestic ecosystem. Dave Dempsey weaves the natural character and phenomena of the Great Lakes and stories of the schemes, calamities, and unusual human residents of the Basin with the history of their environmental exploitation and recovery. Contrasting the incomparable beauty and complexity of the Lakes, and the poetry, folklore, and citizen action they have inspired, with the disasters that short-sighted human folly has inflicted on the ecosystem, Dempsey makes this history both engaging and relevant to today’s debates and decisions. Underlying the neglectful treatment of the Lakes are two irreconcilable and faulty human assumptions: that the Lakes are a system so big that human beings cannot do great harm to it, and that the Lakes are a resource that can be bent to the will of humankind. Dempsey finds evidence that, despite great changes in the laws governing the Lakes and public attitudes toward them in the last fifty years, government policy and institutions are still dominated by these dangerous attitudes. A central theme of On the Brink is that citizens, who have displayed an increasing sense of commitment to the Lakes and a growing sense of place, must challenge their leaders to reform Great Lakes institutions. While everything from large-scale water exports to global climate change looms in the future of the Lakes, single-purpose solutions do not suffice—no more than a Band- aid would on a gaping wound. Dempsey shows that it is necessary to create a governing system that reflects the realities of life “on the ground” in communities and that taps into the passion and determination of citizens to protect these treasures.

On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century

Michigan State University Press

This book presents Michigan's greatest resource through the lens of a camera. One cannot think of Michigan without the image of water. Water as vast as the Great Lakes, as serene as the inland lakes, and as long and lazy or sleek and fast as the numerous byways that runbetween and among them. The Waters of Michigan is a tribute to this treasured resource of Michigan. Combining the vision of internationally renowned photographer David Lubbers with the stewardship focus of environmentalist Dave Dempsey, this collection presents a truly unique view and understanding of the waters of Michigan. The Waters of Michigan is a call to all who know the state of Michigan to re-see this wonder that is ours and to realize how precious and fragile it is.

The Waters of Michigan (Dave Dempsey Environmental Studies)

Arts & Photography

Lubbers, David

Photography & Video

On the shores of the world's largest lake, a slick Chicago developer and a home-grown, small-town Michigan lake advocate collide over his proposed Superior Shores resort. She thinks he's ruining nature; he thinks he's showcasing it. Their differences generate a controversy that reverberates across the lake -- and sparks of another kind. Dave Dempsey is the author of four nonfiction books, including two about Great Lakes protection. He is also co-author, with David Lubbers, of "The Waters of Michigan."

Superior Shores: A Novel of Conservation

Literature & Fiction

Literary

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Long revered as the birthplace of many of the nation’s best-known authors, Michigan has also served as inspiration to countless others. In this entertaining and well-researched book―the first of its kind―the secrets, legends, and myths surrounding some of Michigan’s literary luminaries are explored. Which Michigan poet inspired a state law requiring teachers to assign at least one of his compositions to all students? Which young author emerged from the University of Michigan with a bestselling novel derided by some critics as “vulgar”? And from what Michigan city did Arthur Miller, Robert Frost, and Jane Kenyon draw vital inspiration? The answers to these questions and more are revealed in this rich literary history that highlights the diversity of those whose impact on letters has been indelible and distinctly Michiganian.

Ink Trails: Michigan's Famous and Forgotten Authors

Dempsey, Jack

History & Criticism

From authors of bodice rippers and gallant figures to hometown poetry, hearty men, and tales of American originals, the history of literature in Michigan is deep and rich. The Wolverine State has been the birthplace, home, and inspiration to a tremendous number of men and women of letters, both the well-known and the obscure. Ink Trails II tells the stories of these fascinating and diverse writers whose talent is inextricably linked to Michigan. Exploring the hidden treasures of otherwise forgotten authors while also acknowledging the Michigan-set stories of giants like Hemingway, Dave and Jack Dempsey delve into the state’s literary heritage, as robust, diverse, and inexhaustible as the natural beauty of the place that nurtured it. This second volume of “ink trails” continues to tell the story of the remarkable writers, powerful words, and sublime nature of Michigan in the same well-researched and entertaining prose as the first.

Ink Trails II: Michigan's Famous and Forgotten Authors

Humans and canines have been cohabitating for centuries, straddling a boundary that allows us to live together within and across our species. In this empathetic volume, author&nbsp;Dave Dempsey explores this life on the border, the overlapping planes between humans&nbsp;and the nonhuman world that lead to both magnificent creation and appalling destruction.&nbsp;Dempsey's forty-year career as an environmentalist gives this book a nuanced context&nbsp;that could only be afforded by someone who has lived a half-wild existence himself, both&nbsp;defending and expanding the range of protections afforded to other species. As the former&nbsp;environmental advisor to Michigan Governor James J. Blanchard, Dempsey's recollections&nbsp;also provide a unique perspective on the history of environmental policy, ruminating on&nbsp;how such policy reflects the way we understand ourselves in relation to the environment.&nbsp;Through vignettes that recall personal stories and those that outline historical events that&nbsp;influenced policymaking, Dempsey calls attention to the philosophical question of how we&nbsp;as humans relate to animals and our environment.

Half Wild: People, Dogs, and Environmental Policy

Professionals & Academics

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dempsey, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Dempsey, Dave

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dempsey, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate

Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps

Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader

Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps

On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century

The Waters of Michigan (Dave Dempsey Environmental Studies)

Superior Shores: A Novel of Conservation

Ink Trails: Michigan's Famous and Forgotten Authors

Ink Trails II: Michigan's Famous and Forgotten Authors

Half Wild: People, Dogs, and Environmental Policy