Hamburg and Pinckney libraries partner with Michigan Humanities for this year’s Great Michigan Read author event

Residents in Livingston and Washtenaw counties are invited to attend a virtual event at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11, with this year’s Great Michigan Read author, Mary Doria Russell, who will discuss her latest novel, “The Women of Copper Country.” The novel is a riveting account of 25-year-old Annie Clements as she stood up for the copper miners and their families in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the 1913 strikes. This event is hosted by the Hamburg Township Library and the Pinckney Community Public Library.

The Great Michigan Read aims to connect Michiganders by deepening readers’ understanding of our state, our society and our humanity. A statewide panel of teachers, librarians, community leaders and book lovers select the Great Michigan Read every two years. Shelly Hendrick Kasprzycki, Michigan Humanities president and CEO, says she hopes Michigan citizens statewide can read, discuss and learn from Annie’s inspiring example as “America’s Joan of Arc” during an engaging Great Michigan Read program.

“I am so honored Michigan Humanities chose The Women of Copper Country for the 2021- 2022 Great Michigan Read,” Russell said.

She spent time in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and walked through the streets of Calumet (where the novel takes place), toured the mines, and visited local museums as she prepared to write her fictionalized account of Annie Clements. Russell stated,

“The copper strike itself has been studied and written about by historians and legal experts, but those accounts are not meant to engage the reader’s emotions,” Russell said. “That was my job – to combine imagination and empathy with research.”

Russell holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan and taught anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Registration is required for this virtual event. You can go directly to www.hamburglibrary.org and click on the programs link or click here to go to the registration page.

The 2021-22 Great Michigan Read is presented by Michigan Humanities and supported by national, statewide and local partners, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Meijer Foundation and Martin Waymire.

You can find out about Hamburg Twp Library at www.hamburglibrary.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can find out about the Pinckney Community Public Library at www.pinckneylibrary.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

DON’T MISS A BEAT

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

We don’t spam!

Sharing is caring!

The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.