John Smolens - Novelist

September 9, 2010

Joe Smolens, a novelist, will give  a reading and book signing  at the Fremont Area District library on September 9, 2010. Smolens is the author of  six novels and one collection of short stories. His most recent novel , The Anarchist is a fictionalized account of  the assassination of president  McKinley.  His novel Cold is a thriller set in the northern Michigan. Smolens was recently named the Michigan author of the Year for 2010.  He teaches English at Northern Michigan University.

Marilyn Hansen-Swanson - memoir of a One Room School House Teacher

September 16, 2010

Former Fremont area resident and retired one room school house teacher Marilyn Hansen Swanson will share her memories of being s student and eventually a teacher in Newaygo county. She describes in great detail her time at Tyndall, and McCallum schools  from 1938- 1945. After finishing the sixth grade, she attended Fremont High School where she graduated in 1951. She went on to get a limited teaching certificate and taught from 1953- 1958, first at a school in Van Buren County, then back in west Michigan at the South Garfield school in Newaygo County.  

Arnie Bernstein - True Crime Writer ***

October 2, 2010

 *** note that this event begins at 2:00 in the afternoon. ***

Arnie Bernstein, true crime writer, will share his book Bath Massacre, America’s First School Bombing on Saturday October 2, 2010 . Bernstein’s book was a Michigan notable book for 2010. It is based on the Bath school massacre in 1927 when a local farmer, Andrew Kehoe,  set off 500 pounds of explosives in the school which killed 38 children, and 6 adults including Kehoe.  Bernstein teaches writing in the Chicago Area. His other works includes histories of film in Chicago  and the Civil War in Chicago.

Amberrose Hammond Ghost Hunter

October 21, 2010

Amberrose Hammond, author of Ghosts and Legends of Michigan's West Coast , will share her book on October 21, 2010.  Interested in the paranormal since she was a little kid,  she read and watched anything that had to do with ghosts and the paranormal.  About 10 years ago she started exploring the haunted places in Michigan. Since then she has worked with a number of ghost hunting teams around the state, continued to learn any and everything about the paranormal world,  helped form The Great Lakes Paranormal Research Organization in 2003 and is co-founder of  “Michigan’s Otherside”  website . Her real passion is researching and learning about the history behind legends and hauntings.