—Hour Magazine

August 10, 2008

HOUR DETROIT / AUGUST 2008 / HIT THE ROAD

Hit the Road

With relief at the gas pump nowhere in sight, summer road trips may feel more like guilt trips. Because of that, travel plans are sporting a dose of practicality in the form of itineraries that stick a little closer to home. However, three new guides may be just the ticket for rekindling our affection for hitting the road. So many people with cottages up north dart up the highway, completely oblivious to the flora, fauna, towns, and landmarks dotting the landscape on the way to their destination. It seems the only time they venture off the freeway is to gas up or to grab a bite at a convenient chain restaurant. In Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on 1-75, by Leslie Mertz (Arbutus Press, $17.95), it’s clear there’s plenty to learn if drivers would slow down, take an unfamiliar exit, and explore.
There’s a difference between being a mere traveler and being an adventurer, and this book is an invitation to make a drab ride into an exciting journey. From the Ohio-Michigan border to Sault Ste. Marie, Mertz tells what awaits us at every exit off 1-75, including interesting tidbits about many mile markers. She also crams a good deal of history and trivia (called Brainbusters) into her volume. Crafty parents can take one of these exits, and bored kids aren’t likely to whine, “Are we there yet?” If it seems there’s a bounty of information about Michigan flora, it’s for a good reason: Mertz holds a Ph.D. in biology.

—Houghton Lake Resorter

Mile by Mile on I-75' offers up fascinating facts about Michigan

Former Houghton Lake resident Leslie Mertz has written a book about driving along the I-75 corridor, "Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on I-75."

Published May 28, 2008, by Arbutus Press, Traverse City, the 320-plus page book challenges travelers on the I-75 freeway to engage their curiosity as the scenery goes by.

Mertz presents thousands of interesting facts about the various exits and mile markers along the entire length of the interstate highway from Monroe and the Ohio border to Sault Ste. Marie at the Canadian border. The guide includes "brain busters" to quiz passengers about topics related to Michigan and can transform a mind-numbing trip into an engaging journey, making the miles fly by.

Mertz is a lifelong Michigan resident who has lived in seven different counties in the state (including the Upper Peninsula), and currently resides in Northwestern Michigan. She is a freelance writer who has written seven books, co-authored an eighth, and written widely for magazines and other publications. In addition, she holds a Ph.D. in biology, and teaches field biology classes at Wayne State University and Eastern Michigan University.

The idea for the book came to Mertz about 10 years ago when she lived in southeastern Michigan, and her husband, Steve Zaglaniczny, and she were heading along I-75 on one of their many trips up north.

As they passed Sashabaw Road in Clarkston, in Northern Oakland County, she recalled how her dad would always point out the name and pronounce it with a little lilt so it sounded lyrical. She began to wonder where the name Sashabaw came from. Then they started passing other roads or towns with names that she assumed had some significance, so she started jotting them down.

"When I got home, I looked up Sashabaw and some of the other towns and roads," she said, "and they had such wonderful stories, that I was hooked."

Turns out, Sashabaw Road is named for an American Indian chief who lived in that area of Oakland County in the early 1800s, and formed a friendship with the first white settlers to the area, one of which was a major from Detroit named Oliver Williams. The chief was buried on the edge of Silver Lake not far from the home of his friends.

"Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on I-75" is filled with such facts and tidbits, including some information about Houghton Lake and Roscommon. It is a guide to the state that uses a drive on I-75 as the thread that ties it all together.

It covers hundreds of different points along I-75, town by town, and even mile marker by mile marker in many cases. It's loaded with interesting and sometimes bizarre facts about the state of Michigan and the people who live here now or have lived here in the past. It describes the landscape, the buildings, the plants and animals you see along the way and helps drivers imagine life in Michigan at different points in history.

Mertz said she learned a lot about the state while writing the book.

"Which is what made it so much fun to write," she said.

The Driving Michigan book also mentions modern-day legends like the reported sightings of Bigfoot near Mio, or weird phenomena, like the mystery hill near Rose City where cars seem to roll uphill. Both of those are mentioned at Exit 202.

The book is arranged just like I- 75 with the same exit and mile marker numbers you see as you drive along the expressway, with the smallest number at the Ohio border and the highest number at the Canadian border. Just look up the exit or mile marker number your nearest to and start reading! If you're heading north, you can read the entries from front to back, or if you're heading south, you can read the entries from back to front.

From native animals to lumberjacks to politicians, "Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on I-75" is chock full of information. Mertz also included a complete index and a comprehensive bibliography, which may be especially helpful for teachers or students who are doing reports for school.

"I really did have a wonderful time writing it," Mertz said, "so I just hope everyone has as much fun reading it."

The book may be found at online bookseller sites, as well as many Michigan bookstores for $17.95.

 

—WSU alumna chauffeurs readers down I-75

Author Leslie Mertz confirms "it's not about the destination; it's about the journey"

By: Mary Sitto / For The South End

Posted: 7/9/08

We all know Eminem is from Detroit, but did you also know that aviator Charles Lindberg and director/producer Francis Ford Coppola are from Detroit as well?

These are just a few of the many facts in the fun-filled book, "Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on I-75" by freelance writer and Wayne State graduate Leslie Mertz.

Mertz received a BA in journalism and a Ph.D. in biology from Wayne State. She is the author of seven books and teaches outdoor courses at a biological field station for Eastern Michigan University.

"Driving Michigan" begins at the southern border of Michigan and Ohio and follows I-75 throughout the mitten to its northern border with Canada. Each page is packed with interesting information at each exit or mile marker.

The countless, captivating, and frequently unusual facts in the book include such things as historic information, legends, ghost stories, unusual buildings, descriptions of plants or animals and the geology of the land.

Mertz got the idea for the book about 10 years ago while driving up north on one of her many camping trips.

She would jot down anything that caught her interest including, "Buildings on the side of the road, or if I see a certain animal at one point on the freeway, or a bird that flew overhead, or just anything," Mertz said.

She discovered these points of interest and then continued on in a concentrated search for some of the book's familiar, often enlightening facts.

"It took a long time, but it was so much fun doing research for all these places." Mertz said. "It's been a real eye-opener for me."

As a starting point, Mertz would look up the name of a road or a town to find out where the name came from and then gather additional data from there.

With each new tidbit of information she learned, Mertz would excitedly say to her husband "Hey, did you know…"

The entertaining guide also includes "Brain Busters," trivia questions offered at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels on a wide variety of topics.

"Exit 34" tells the stories of rumrunners illegally bringing liquor from Canada to Detroit during the Prohibition era, and of the Purple Gang's success in keeping Chicago gangster Al Capone out of Detroit.

"Exit 47" answers the question of why the Tigers played their Sunday home games outside of the city of Detroit through 1907.

An excerpt from "Driving Michigan" explains that "Detroit had so-called 'blue laws' that prohibited boisterous activities, like watching a baseball game, on Sundays when residents ought to be in church or at least have more solemn thoughts on their minds."

The book injects readers with a slew of Michigan-relevant, fun filled facts such as "The people of southeastern Michigan eat more potato chips per year that any other place in the world."

"What's out there, it just amazed me, like the Zilwalkie Bridge." Mertz said. "Mile marker 154" relates the story of the Johnson brothers who wanted to lure German immigrants into working at their sawmill.

The Germans had a reputation for working hard and cheap and were already crossing the country to move to Milwaukee. The Johnson's decided that "naming the town Zilwaukee might just sound close enough to Milwaukee to confuse the immigrants to come here instead," according to Mertz. About 20 percent of Zilwaukee's early residents were German.

Other interesting tidbits in Mertz's book are Motor City madman, Ted Nugent, has a song called "Fred Bear." Bear, the famed bow hunter, hunted with his pal Terrible Ted, and started a company that manufactured hunting bows in his hometown of Grayling.

According to the book, just miles south of the Sault Sainte Marie International Bridge, connecting Michigan to Ontario, is the town of Seney. This small town off of exit 386 in the Upper Peninsula is rich with legends of some of the men who lived and worked there

Legendary residents of Seney include Pump Handle Joe, who would flip newcomers upside down and shake the money out of their pockets, and Leon Czolgosz, who worked on the railroad before moving to New York in 1901, where he assassinated President McKinley.

If there's a particular topic that you're interested in, you can find it in the index. Sashabaw Road, kayaking, fog, sled dog races and Loup Garou are just a few of the many items in the index.

"This book is for every curious person who has ever looked out the window of their car and wondered about what they see out there," Mertz said.

© Copyright 2008 The South End

Traverse City Record Eagle

BY AL PARKER

"Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on 1-75" (Arbutus Press, 312 pages) by Leslie Mertz is a very readable guide that supplies fascinating facts about the turf along the concrete river that runs from Ohio to Sault St. Marie. Starting at the southern point, the exit-by-exit text shares nuggets of info about almost every mile all the way to the International Bridge. Particularly interesting are the "Brain Busters," a Q-and-A trivia game that is entertaining and informative. Anyone who's ever logged even a mile or two on I-75 will find this book enjoyable.