Letters from the Leelanau: Essays of People and Place

by Kathleen Stocking

Stocking writes about the people and places she knows so intimately

182 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 1990

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays from approximately 1979-1989 holds up well when read in 2020 by someone who only just fell in love with the Leelanau Penninsula ten or fifteen years ago. Stocking has a unique perspective on this precious swath of land, having grown up at the base of Alligator Hill in the 1950s, left for Manhattan and elsewhere, and returned to raise a family. Her descriptions of everyday people and place are direct and generous without being saccharine, and they’re almost enough to make me want to move up there permanently and live off the land. But just almost.

[Ian Roseen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays from the 1980s on a place I know well, and the people who inhabit it. These are beautiful and moving for all of their mundane qualities, and the way the beauty of the land crashes in on this region and this people who, even thirty years ago, before I was born, were experiencing the influx of tourism and summer people, here to seek "real life" away from the upheaval of the cities. I left this book at my family's cottage for future reading by the lake or by the fire. Though there are some dated qualities to her writing here, I would love to read more by Kathleen Stocking.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are writers who write geographies and cultures without trying. These essays carry the essence of northern Michigan, and encourage a longing to return for those not there.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short essays that are, as stated, considerations of people and place. And the place is fairly small. Although the landscape (place) isn't very small at all.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reminds me of one of my favorite books, Up in The Old Hotel, but about a place I know and love. It is pretty amazing how these vignettes from the 80s still resonate.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casting spells over me—always—this one. A writer (nay, kindred spirit) who makes me fall even more in love—with the people, with the wild, with the magic of this place we call Home.

[Dianneoconnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen Stocking writes beautifully of the history, the beauty of the land and the soul of this very special place.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit it: I was turned off by the word 'essays'. My immediate thought was ..."it's probably boring,....drab...blah." Not so. Stocking picked me up and dropped me into her world within a few pages. I had spent eight summers at a camp on the Leelanau peninsula, so I appreciated her vivid descriptions of the Sleeping Bear National Park and the little towns of Glen Arbor and Leland--all part of my camp experience. But the best part of Stocking's book is her vignettes of the people she encountered, people of all sizes and personalities. I wanted to meet them all and felt I almost did by reading this book--of essays, of all things!