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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 7, 2008
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25

The Great Michigan Read exhibit and programs now in Sault Ste. Marie

Exhibit featuring Hemingway’s early years in Michigan and his Nick Adams Stories

(LANSING)----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) announces that the exhibit, Up North with the Hemingways, is on public display at the Chippewa County Historical Society (115 Ashmun St., Sault Ste. Marie) now through April 21, 2008.  The exhibit is part of The Great Michigan Read, launched in July by the Michigan Humanities Council to help address the decline in reading literature. The exhibit will visit 29 sites, including Plainwell, in the state of Michigan through July 7, 2008 (see below or log onto the website, www.greatmichiganread.org). Hours to view the exhibit in Sault Ste. Marie are 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. everyday, including Saturdays and Sundays.

In addition, several The Great Michigan Read programs will be held in the area: on April 19, Michael Federspiel of the Michigan Hemingway Society will speak at the CCHS annual meeting; on April 24, a screening of the 1945 film, A Farewell to Arms, will be held at the Bayliss Public Library; on May 8, the Bayliss Public Library will feature a discussion by Eric Gadzinski titled, “Soldier Home: The war aesthetic in the story Indian Camp”; on May 15, the Bayliss Public Library will host a screening of the 1945 film, To Have and Have Not; and, throughout May 2008, the Bayliss Public Library will display Up North-themed quilts.  For more information about the exhibit and the programs, contact 906-635-7082.

The Up North with the Hemingways touring exhibit includes references to original artifacts about Ernest Hemingway’s life and his writings that pertain to his time in Northern Michigan. There are four themes as a focus of each exhibit: Northern Michigan in the early 1900s, the Hemingway family, Ernest Hemingway, and The Nick Adams Stories. The Great Michigan Read touring exhibits were funded in part by the MHC and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and were created by the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University and the Michigan Hemingway Society.

“The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to reach a wider audience with The Great Michigan Read programs by making available a touring exhibit about The Nick Adams Stories and Ernest Hemingway,” said Janice Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council.     

“The Chippewa County Historical Society is pleased to be partnering with the Bayliss Public Library in sponsoring The Great Michigan Read locally and to be hosting Up North with the Hemingways exhibit,” said Nancy Steinhaus, president of the Chippewa County Historical Society. “Our volunteers are looking forward to sharing the exhibit with the community, as well as area school groups.”

"The Clarke Historical Library hopes the touring exhibits will help people explore and understand some of the complex themes in The Nick Adams Stories and how the stories relate to Hemingway's years in Michigan," stated Dr. Frank Boles, director of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University.

About The Great Michigan Read

The MHC is the first organization to implement a program for an entire state to read one of Hemingway's works. To date, more than 190 organizations and more than 130 communities across the state are participating in The Great Michigan Read. Reader's guides, bookmarks, posters, and other opportunities are available to participating cultural organizations. Additional activities include radio and television features, podcasts, speakers' bureau, driving tours, a website resource (www.greatmichiganread.org), and grant programs to help engage communities in literature.

Valerie Hemingway to Visit Michigan

And, Valerie Hemingway, author of Running with the Bulls, a memoir of her years as Ernest Hemingway’s secretary and her later marriage to his son, Gregory Hemingway, will tour six cities in Michigan from April 23-29, 2008 (Lansing, Hamtramck, Grand Rapids, Marquette, Traverse City, Saginaw).

The Great Michigan Read Touring Exhibit Schedule

2007

• September 7 - 24, 2007. Oscoda County Library, Mio.
• September 21 - October 8, 2007. Colon Township Library, Colon.
• September 28 - October 15, 2007. Munising School Public Library, Munising.
• October 12 - 29, 2007. Michigan Story Festival/Clarke Historical Library, Mt. Pleasant.
• October 19 - November 5, 2007. Baker College of Owosso, Owosso.
• October 19 - November 5, 2007. Durand Union Station, Durand.
• November 2 - 19, 2007. Midland County Historical Society, Midland.
• November 9 - 26, 2007. Jake Menghini Historical Museum, Norway.
• November 23 - December 10, 2007. Three Rivers Public Library, Three Rivers.
• November 30 - December 17, 2007. Adrian Public Library, Adrian.
• December 14 - 31, 2007. Cadillac Wexford Public Library, Cadillac
• December 21, 2007 - January 7, 2008. Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City.

2008

• January 4 - 21, 2008. Standish Historical Depot (Arenac Heritage Route Authority), Standish.
• January 11 - 28, 2008. Box Factory for the Arts, St. Joseph.
• January 25 - February 11, 2008. Niles District Library, Niles.
• February 1 - 18, 2008. Historical Society of Saginaw County (Castle Museum), Saginaw.
• February 15 - March 3, 2008. Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, Alpena.
• February 22 - March 10, 2008. Calumet Public School Library, Calumet.
• March 7, - 24, 2008. Charles Ransom District Library, Plainwell.
• March 14 - 31, 2008. Peter White Public Library, Marquette.
• March 28 - April 14, 2008. Plymouth Community Arts Council, Plymouth.
• April 4- 21, 2008. Chippewa County Historical Society, Sault Ste. Marie.
• April 18 - May 5, 2008. Library of Michigan, Lansing.
• April 25 - May 12, 2008. Artworks (One Book: 15 Libraries), Big Rapids.
• May 9 - 26, 2008. Ann Arbor Book Festival, Ann Arbor.
• May 16 - June 2, 2008. Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, Clinton Township.
• May 30 - June 16, 2008. Bay County Historical Society, Bay City.
• June 6 - 23, 2008. Wolcott Mill Historic Center, Ray.
• June 20 - July 7, 2008. Alfred P. Sloan Museum, Flint.

Additional information is available at www.greatmichiganread.org or by contacting the MHC at 517-372-7770. Up North with the Hemingways was made possible by Michigan Humanities Council, Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University, Michigan Hemingway Society, and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is a private, non-profit organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.