In 2019, Great Lakes Talking Books purchased a recording booth using funds donated by the Victoria E. Wolf estate with the goal to record books written by local authors and/or about the Upper Peninsula. The books we record are available only to patrons of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. The recording booth has been installed in the Peter White Public Library, where it is available for public library patron use, and equipment and furnishings were funded by the Jim Armstrong Memorial and Eunice Vandecaveye. Several local books/authors have been suggested for local recording. 

Staff:

• Tonia Bickford, Recording Director and Monitor 
• Jeremy Morelock, Editor and Equipment Consultant

Available now:

• DBC 16187 - A Love Affair with the U.P. by Cully Gage (Charles Van Riper), narrated by Dan Junttila - Essays from Cully Gage about his life growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 1988. Adult
• DBC 19551 - The Last Northwoods Reader: Book 4, by Cully Gage (Charles Van Riper), narrated by Mark Hamari - Humorous stories of early 20th Century life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Book number four in the Northwoods Reader series. Adult
• DBC 19552 - Laughing Whitefish, by Robert Traver (John D. Voelker), narrated by Mark Hamari - From the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Murder, an engrossing trial drama of ethnic hostility and the legal defense of Indian treaties. Adult
• DBC 19554 - Northwoods Reader, Volume One, Northern Wit & Wisdom by Cully Gage, read by Mark Hamari. Adult
• DBC 19553 - Copper Empire: A Novel about the Copper Country Labor Strike in 1913, by Donna Searight Simons, read by Kelsey Boldt. Paul Weyburn and his fellow copper miners have tolerated dangerous working conditions for too long in Red Jacket, Michigan.  Adult
• DBC 19555 - Cinder Pond by Carroll Watson Rankin read by Laura Kantola. Set in an old fishing wharf in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the novel follows protagonist Jeannette Huntington Duval as she leaves her struggling family to live with affluent relatives. Juvenile.
• DBC 19556 - Dandelion Cottage by Carroll Watson Rankin read by Connie Mazzuchi. In this charming tale, four girls play an extended and elaborate game of ‘house’ in an abandoned cottage. Juvenile
• DBC 19557 - Way Back When: Nostalgic Essays of "Growing Up North" by Jerry Harju, read by Mark Hamari. A collection of essays published in the Mining Journal.

In Progress:

• DBC 19558 Danny and the Boys: Being Some Legends of Hungry Hollow by Robert Traver, author of Anatomy of a Murder
• DBC 19559 Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Life, Legends, & Landmarks by Sonny Longtine
• DBC 19560 Winter Heart by B.G. Bradley

About our narrators:

• Marquette native Mark Hamari co-owns Marquette Wallpaper & Paint with his brother Darryl. He is a member of several local bands including The Union Suits and the Marquette Rockestra. He lives in town with his wife T. and their dog Taika. He hopes people enjoy listening to the books as much as he enjoys narrating them.
• Kelsey Boldt is the librarian at the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library. Naturally, she enjoys reading in her spare time, but also loves writing, film making, and the outdoors.
• Calumet native Dan Junttila is "creatively retired" after 30 + years as a teacher and football, track, baseball, and hockey coach. We lost Dan Junttila in January, 2022.
• Connie Mazzuchi is a retired Registered Nurse from Marquette General Hospital and has been in Marquette for nearly fifty years. She lives in town with her husband, Dan and thoroughly enjoys reading for Talking Books.
• Laura Kantola, an Ishpeming resident, has lived in the UP nearly all her life.  A retired teacher, she enjoys walking, cross-country skiing, biking, kayaking, and of course, reading.  She finds narrating a fulfilling way to reach out to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to read the written word.