Yooper Bars

A travel guide featuring over 100 of the best bars in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Author and award-winning historian Russell M. Magnaghi delves into the delectable food history of the Upper Peninsula. Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a veritable cornucopia of delicious dishes. Over the centuries, the shared food knowledge and passion Native Americans and immigrant of all kinds produced the region's iconic foods and beloved restaurants. Mackinac Island remains the epicenter for fine food. Here one can dine on freshly caught trout and whitefish at the Grand Hotel before tracking down the island's celebrated fudge for dessert. Afield of the island, visitors and residents alike can attend a Friday night fish fry virtually anywhere in the area, savor a juicy "Big C" burger at one of the many Clyde's Drive-In locations, or just have a refreshing glass of beer at Tahquamenon Brew Pub in aptly-named Paradise.

Back in 1981, publisher Ed Danner took a chance, hiring Nancy Besonen, a rookie reporter from Chicago's South Side, for his weekly newspaper, the L'Anse Sentinel. Her humor column, "Off the Hook," was ostensibly all about fishing, but she quickly cut loose, writing about anything relevant to life, especially in the Michigan's Upper Peninsula, as long as it made her readers smile. There's something for everyone with a strong sense of the ridiculous: "Ask Miss Demeanor," "Life's a Breach" and "Baldness: A Growing Concern." Also, "We Make Hay," "Men Are from Mud" and a particularly sensitive piece, "I'm Poopeye the Sailor Mom." From Michigan's tiniest predator, the no-see-um, to life's biggest challenges, like trying to fly into or out of the U.P., Besonen's on the beat. "Nancy Besonen's weekly columns in the L'Anse Sentinel always made me smile, or chuckle and, quite often, even snort with mirth. Besonen connects so well with our quirky Yooper culture and its priorities. Her perspective of our everyday lives is hilarious and reminiscent of the late Erma Bombeck." -- Terri Martin, author and U.P. Notable Book Award recipient "A veteran journalist, Nancy Besonen has a wonderful gift for sweet and tangy, humorous writing and storytelling. She uses visual, nuanced language to paint portraits of Michigan's Upper Peninsula's people, places and events, infusing culture, history and geography. Her colorful tales, filled with wit, action, twists and turns, are a must read for those in Michigan (and beyond), as she inspires us all to think about our own life journeys." -- Martha Bloomfield, award-winning author, oral historian, artist and poet "Besonen, a gifted journalist who moved north from Chicago for the fishing and brought with her a deep sensibility for the U.P, both teaches and inspires. This is true nonfiction at its best, both wit and investigative journalism. I am glad she collects it here." -- Mack Hassler, former professor of English, Kent State University From Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

"This is not a book about how to mix drinks. It's about what to eat after the drinks are mixed, poured, or uncapped. These recipes are stress-free, easy, and meant to be made and eaten casually. Their appeal lies in their robust flavors, serving simplicity, and the way the recipes complement beverages. They're the same type of tasty nibbles found at all the best bars--and they can look and taste just as tempting, even when made at home." --From Great Bar Food at Home

Explore the fabled past and vibrant present of New York’s literary bar scene Want to know what it’s like to pull up a stool with the likes of Hemingway, Updike, or Capote? Curious how Jay McInerney takes his martini, or where to find Colson Whitehead’s favorite neighborhood bar? For well-read drinkers and boozy bookworms everywhere comes Storied Bars of New York, a photographic and historical celebration of the best literary pubs, cocktail bars, and taverns of New York City. Every chapter profiles an influential bar and comes complete with photographs, a laundry list of the writerly clientele, a recipe for the establishment’s signature cocktail (as well as which authors were likely to order it), and a snapshot of its place in New York culture at the time of its eminence, as demonstrated by quotes from authors and excerpts from magazine reviews. In a city where there is almost too much to explore, this guide will make finding your favorite erudite-cool drinking spot that much easier.

One Yoopers Journey: An Unauthorized Autobiography is a fictionalized autobiography. It needs to be fictionalized just as a resume needs to be embellished. It may not be as believable, but the fictionalized parts are intended to be much more entertaining. The events described in the book really happened. The specifics, such as the minute details and the dialogue, may not be historically accurate. The term unauthorized autobiography, though somewhat oxymoronic, has a purpose. Real Yoopers may take exception to the use of this word in the title, since the author has lived most of his life outside of the Upper Peninsula. His journey parallels at times and intersects at other times with the journey of his favorite relativehis Uncle Hal Nowell. Uncle Hal teams up with him from time to time with a mix of shared adventures and misadventures. The author was positively influenced by the town and the many good people of Escanaba.

Finding a major city's ultimate cocktail bar is often quite the challenge. This book takes you on a trip around the world from Hong Kong to New York and Berlin. It shows locations that set themselves apart with their gorgeous design, stunning views, exclusivity or signature cocktail. In short, must-visit bars for any enthusiast. Can't wait? Not to worry. The author has added some of the best cocktail recipes for classics, such as Gin Fizz, Negroni or a Manhattan, as well as the best sours and long drinks. Discover the history of each bar, learn how to select your own cocktail menu, let the unique, refined atmosphere of every location carry you away or stay home and drink your exquisite self-made drink. AUTHOR: Jurgen Lijcops has been working as a sommelier and spirits connoisseur in some of the most esteemed restaurants. He travels the world to constantly expand his knowledge, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he knows the most exquisite bars, where you can sit back and enjoy some of the best cocktails and spirits around. In 2016 he started his own Bar Burbure, where he serves the most refined cocktails and long drinks. That same year it was awarded the title of best bar concept. He was elected best sommelier of Belgium and best host of Belgium twice by Gault Millau. SELLING POINTS: * A selection of the 150 loveliest international bars, each having a unique story to tell * Features 25 signature cocktails, including descriptions and recipes * Must-visit bars: classics and hidden gems 150 colour, 30 b/w illustrations

Sometimes the best way to learn about a unique region is to listen to the stories told by those who've actually lived there. You learn things that no guidebook would ever tell you. You meet unforgettable characters who've strayed far off the beaten path. And you see clearly again how the power of memory is so strong that they can still recall incidents decades later. Michigan's Upper Peninsula has always been filled with remarkable sensations and indelible stories. With this anthology, the editor Raymond Luczak sought to include poets who not only live in the U.P., but also who used to live there. What did it mean to be a Yooper then? What about now? Even for those who no longer abide there, the U.P. is indeed a special place, and it isn't just thanks to Mother Nature. The Yooper mindset requires a particular kind of faith in resilience against persistent odds. The poets in this collection have never forgotten what it means to be a Yooper. Come partake in our celebration! Featuring Martin Achatz Jennifer Elen Bríd B. Harlan Deemer Chad Faries Deborah K. Frontiera Kathleen M. Heideman John Hilden Jonathan Johnson Kathleen Carlton Johnson Ellen Lord Raymond Luczak Gala Malherbe Beverly Matherne R. H. Miller Jane Piirto Dana Richter T. Kilgore Splake Suzanne Sunshower Russell Thorburn The editor Raymond Luczak, who spent nine years each in Ironwood and Houghton, Michigan, has never forgotten what it means to be a Yooper. It still runs deep in his veins, and it continues to inform his every step. When he began to wonder whether he was the only one who’d felt this way, he decided to find out by calling out to others who were of the U.P. diaspora as well as those who still resided there. He found a community who wanted to be part of the larger Yooper (and poetic) conversation about identity and connection. What he discovered in the poems submitted for his consideration was just how powerful some childhood memories can be. Many of the poems illustrated yet again the truth of that rephrased maxim—You can take a person out of the U.P., but you can’t take the U.P. out of them. Many poems throughout the anthology seem to call out to each other, as if they are having a deep conversation and nodding in agreement. Yooper Poetry: On Experiencing Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has assembled a community of some 19 poets who wanted to be part of the larger Yooper conversation about identity and connection that is still ongoing today, and the anthology remains very relevant to America’s future history. Who are we, and who are we to each other? The anthology offers many possible answers. RAYMOND LUCZAK is the author and editor of over 30 books, including U.P.-centric titles such as Far from Atlantis: Poems (Gallaudet University Press), Chlorophyll: Poems about Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Modern History Press), and Compassion, Michigan: The Ironwood Stories (Modern History Press). His poetry collection once upon a twin: poems (Gallaudet University Press) was a top ten U.P. Notable Book of the Year for 2021. His work has appeared in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. A proud Yooper, he lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Drive Me Out of My Mind is a coming-of-age story of wildness and wandering set primarily in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—its abandoned iron mines, desperate small towns, and heart-breaking bars. It’s the memoir of a boy raised by lawless and itinerant women and how he was cultured—and corrupted—by their hard-living, hard-drinking, and hard-loving ways. Given this lot in life, Faries tells how one boy was hurt into becoming a poet at the ripe age of two—to imagine another world other than the daily madness in front of him—a world where violent stalkers hovered over the hospital beds of women as they gave birth, where father figures also copulated with Gramma, where a worn Barbie doll was a main source of comfort, and where home meant 24 anonymous hovels in 10 years.