Pirates, Crooks & Killers: The Dark Side of the Great Lakes

by Frederick Stonehouse

Although the Great Lakes never had swashbuckling pirates like those that swept the Caribbean Seas, there were low-lifes willing to rob and pillage when the opportunity presented itself. Others were not above “moon cussing” or showing false lights to lure ships to wreck on inshore reefs where they pillaged the cargoes and murdered the crews. When the economy “went south” some ship owners were willing to purposely wreck or sink there own ships for the insurance money. These are the type of tales related in Pirates, Crooks and Killers.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

187 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2013

About the author

Frederick Stonehouse has authored over thirty books on maritime history, many of them focusing on the Great Lakes and contributed to several others. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Great Lakes Lighthouse Tales are regional best sellers. Wreck Ashore, the U.S. Life-Saving Service on the Great Lakes, won a national publishing award and is the predominant work on the subject. Another book, Haunted Lakes, Great Lakes Maritime Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea Serpents, has opened an entirely new genre in Great Lakes study. His book, Final Voyage, is the first Great Lakes shipwreck book for children.

He has been a consultant for both the U.S. National Park Service and Parks Canada and has been an "on-air" expert for National Geographic, History Channel and Fox Family, as well as many regional media productions. Awards for contributions to Great Lakes maritime history have been received from Underwater Canada, Our World Underwater, Marquette Maritime Museum and Marquette County Historical Society. He is also the recipient of the 2006 Association For Great Lakes Maritime History Award for Historic Interpretation. The Award is presented annually in recognition of an individual making a major contribution over many years to the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime history in furtherance of the goals of the Association. In addition he was named the Marine Historical Society of Detroit’s “2007 Historian of the Year.” The award is the result of election by past MHSD Historians and recognizes persons who have actively contributed to the study of Great Lakes history. He holds a Master of Arts degree in History from Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan.

Reviews

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. In some accounts I wished the author had given more details. At the same time I learned new things like fake coal pieces that were really mines ready to explode in the steam engine when shoved in with the rest of the coal for burning. I better understand now Farragut's damn the torpedoes statement and the torpedoes were not the submarine World War I styled ones. The Christmas tree ships and holiday use for the Michigan young white pines after the lumbering industry destroyed the forests. I wish there were more details of the Prohibition era gangsters. What was given is fine. I guess I need to find a speciality book on just that era.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pirates, Crooks & Killers: The Dark Side of the Great Lakes" by Frederick Stonehouse is a unique collection of stories involving the darker history the lakes in general. Each of the 7 sections of this book examine a different aspect of the history of the sailing industry on the lakes from pirates to murder & everything else in between. Each brief anecdote also explains at times just how important the role the state of Michigan would play in these tales which also include a few events in Ontario.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lordy whe I read this as a kid I missed how many spelling and syntax errors were in this. On top of that, author goes on SO many rants spilling his personal opinions all over these stories. It's a good book to find out about the existence of people and places so you can then find better quality, objective narratives somewhere else, but that's about it.

[Corinthia Soukup · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the information was interesting, it was terribly written. I don’t know what made it harder to read - all the spelling and punctuation errors or the unyielding bias.
I would recommend the author continue researching, but let someone else do the writing or hire an editor.