Great Lakes Journey: A New Look at America's Freshwater Coast

By William Ashworth and Professor of Economic and Social History William Ashworth

Book Overview

Great Lakes Journey is a follow-up to William Ashworth's earlier book The Late, Great Lakes, published in 1986. Fifteen years after his first trip, Ashworth journeys to many of the same places and talks to many of the same people to examine the changes that have taken place along the Great Lakes since the 1980s. It is a poetic account of his 6000-mile trip, mixed with explanations of the scientific and poilitical realities behind the observed changes, reminiscences of his 1983 trip, and conversations with local residents - some of them scientists, and other simply people who care.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814328369
• ISBN13: 9780814328361
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Late, Great Lakes are still kicking.

15 years after his journey around the Great Lakes region, recorded in his almost famous book "The Late, Great Lakes", Ashworth made a return trip to review the state of things. "Great Lakes Journey" is an account of this second visit, during which he explores many of the same issues covered in his first book, visits with many of the same people that he interviewed 15 years prior, and tries to draw a bead on the health of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes region. There are some success stories---many of the hideously polluted areas have improved---as well as variety of new issues that plague the largest source of fresh water in the world. Urban sprawl and the invasion of 'exotic' species are two of the most significant problems that Ashworth uncovers in this very readable, cold-eyed assesment of the life and health of one of the States most important, and most disregarded, natural resources. Highly recommended for anyone interested in environmental issues, Great Lakes ecology, or for anyone passionate about the incomparable Sweetwater Seas.