Susan Wasserman Book Program
Monday, September 29th at 7 pm
Members of the Chicago Maritime Museum were invited to join author Susan Wasserman at the museum for a special reception, lecture, and book signing on the evening of Monday, September 29th to celebrate her newly released book, Stepping off the Boat: Stories from North Manitou Island. Susan presented her family's unique perspective of the longtime maritime connections between Chicago and North Manitou Island.
The 250 miles between Chicago and North Manitou tell a story repeated up and down the Wisconsin and Michigan shores of Lake Michigan. The story of North Manitou’s evolution and development includes tales of large steamships which allowed both freight and passengers to easily and inexpensively travel to and from Chicago. This coincided with the popular desire to escape urban areas and enjoy clean air and water. Since 1882, the Chicago-Manitou connection has been reciprocally important to both locales.
The Chicago Maritime Museum has a special connection to the book since 25 museum archival photographs (circa 1900 to 1922) appear in its pages. The photos depict the Newhall family’s mark on the island. As Chicago-based wholesale fruit dealers, the Newhall’s purchased land on North Manitou in the late 1890s and established a large commercial fruit orchard