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Great Lakes Journey

A New Look at America's Freshwater Coast

William Ashworth

Ecology, Environmental Studies, Great Lakes, Michigan

Great Lakes Books Series

Paperback
Published: July 2003
ISBN: 9780814328378
Pages: 288 Size: 6x9
Illustrations: 25 black and white images
$25.99
eBOOK
Published: July 2003
ISBN: 9780814339992
Review

I found [William Ashworth's] writing style very engaging as he led me on a grand tour of the Lakes. His narrative of the sites he visited, blended with insightful interviews along the way, presents an accurate account of the region — at times disturbing and at other times uplifting.

— Charles E. Herdendorf

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. Through personal observation, research, and numerous interviews with scientists, activists, and government agencies, Ashworth creates a detailed picture of the status of the Great Lakes at the end of the twentieth century. Among the most prominent changes he finds are the arrival of the zebra mussel and other exotic species, the rise and fall of the RAP process for pollution cleanup, a growing public mistrust of government action, a substantial loss of habitat and biodiversity, and an explosion of urban sprawl along the shores of the Lakes. Great Lakes Journey is a welcome update on the latest issues affecting the Great Lakes region.

William Ashworth is a reference librarian in Ashland, Oregon. He is the author of several books, including The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History (Wayne State University Press, 1987)

Ashworth's message is clear and worthy. The Great Lakes are in terrible danger, and the greatest single source of that danger is not just mining or erosion or toxic rainfall but the lakes' 'ancient enemy,' complacency and apathy.

– The Washington Post

I found [William Ashworth's] writing style very engaging as he led me on a grand tour of the Lakes. His narrative of the sites he visited, blended with insightful interviews along the way, presents an accurate account of the region -at times disturbing and at other times uplifting.

– Charles E. Herdendorf, Ohio State University