It got worse: The day after I was mugged, he emailed me negative comments he claimed the group made about the book after I left. Apparently the people who really disliked the book were too intimidated by my presence to say so -- at least that's what he reported.

I didn't know my grandparents had a rocky marriage, or that they were even separated, until I'd read this folded letter in my grandma's shoebox.

Even in these last few weeks of the summer travel season, we continue to hear summer songs that capture the spirit of the season or stir memories of waterside romance. But how many were inspired by an actual location?

In a world caught up in invention, there's a refreshingly refined lack of inhibition that exists in Northern Michigan. It exudes a comfortable authenticity, a realness unmatched in other geographies. It's a place that knows who it is and doesn't try to be anything different.