Ron Jolly Author ... Radio talk show host pens Northern Michigan Almanac

June 22, 2005

On April 24, 1959, Muskegon native John Lappo made
aviation history, and he did it in Northern Michigan. So exactly what did Lappo do? The answer is in the new book “The Northern Michigan Almanac,” authored by WTCM talk radio host Ron Jolly. The book hits Northern Michigan bookstores this weekend.
The Lappo story is just one of some 50,000 factoids in the 600 plus page almanac. With all those facts it is virtually impossible to pick out any one that stands over the rest, but Ron Jolly was fascinated by the Lappo story and by another fact he learned during his research.
“I always thought WTCM was the first commercial radio station in Northern Michigan,” said Jolly. “Actually Petoskey High School had a station in the early 1920s. They even broadcast events live from the Perry Hotel in those days.”
The “Almanac” was the brainchild of Brian Lewis, president of Traverse City based Petoskey Publishing. Lewis is founder and former publisher of the Sleeping Bear Press (he sold the press a few years ago) and launched his Petoskey Publishing three years ago with a commitment to publish the finest books on Michigan and the Great Lakes.

INSPIRATION
The idea for the “The Northern Michigan Almanac” came to Lewis after seeing the success of “The Detroit Almanac,” published by the Detroit Free Press five years ago. Inspiration for the book also came from listening to Ron Jolly.
“One day two years ago I was listening to Ron Jolly while he was doing his Northern Michigan Trivia, and I thought he would be the perfect person for this type of book,” said Lewis. “Ron has a passion for this area; he has been reading and collecting books about the region for years.”
Jolly started researching and developing an outline last March. In addition to his fulltime responsibilities of hosting the popular Ron Jolly Show in the mornings on News Talk AM 580 and emceeing several events throughout Northern Michigan, Jolly was able to find time to research and write the book.
“I definitely have 1,200 plus hours into this book,” said Jolly. “I started out 12 hours or so a week and then 25 plus hours a week the final six months. Without the Internet I probably would still be working on this. I also had some research help.”
The “Northern Michigan Almanac” covers 17 counties from Ludington to Clare to Mackinac Island and back down the shoreline.

THE PROOF
“It was a real challenge to proof,” because during the proofing
process I would find myself being drawn in to the facts and I would start reading instead of proofing,” said Lewis.
Jolly found the same challenge.
“I would start proofing and say to myself, ‘Wow, that is pretty interesting.’ There is so much information that even after writing it I still find fascinating facts,” said Jolly. “This book is going to appeal to visitors for sure. But locals will also
enjoy it.”
Lewis agrees. “There is so much in here that even if you have lived here for the
past 50 years, you are going to learn a lot about the area. This book is going to spur conversation.”
The 7” x 10” almanac will retail for $27.95, and in addition to being fun to read, it will serve as a reference for anyone who has an interest in the region.
“I think businesses will find it very helpful as a resource,” said Jolly. “If you were to do this research yourself it would cost thousands of dollars. I also see schools, students and libraries taking an interest in it.”
Lewis sees the book as timeless. “This book will be referred to 50 years from now.”

WORK IN PROGRESS
Lewis and Jolly also know that the book -- even with its 600 pages -- is not complete.
“An almanac is a work in progress,” said Lewis. “It is never complete. Ron has created the baseline and we will have a website for people to go to and send us info for consideration for volume two.”
Lewis figures the second volume will come out in five years.
Jolly said it was hard to put closure to the project because there was so much information to consider.
“I think we were looking at 350 pages at first, but there was just so much of interest,” said Jolly. “Every time I thought I was done I would stumble onto some other fact that I wanted to include.”
Chapter titles include “Weather,” “Water, Woods and Land,” “Population and Housing,” “Transportation,” “Government
& Politics,” “Architecture,” “Culture” “Sports and Recreation,” “Counties and Towns,” and “Business.” Several chapters have sub-titles that explore such topics as “tourism,” “agriculture” and even historical “wage data” for
the area.
Jolly thinks that one particular fact that will startle many will be the population statistics.
“A lot of people probably think that the population explosion in the north is a recent phenomenon,” said Jolly. “Actually during the lumbering days the population in some communities was larger at that time then
it is today.”

PARTNERS
“The Northern Michigan Almanac” will be the 11th book published this year by Petoskey Publishing and their collaborative partner, the University of Michigan Press. The partnership developed as a result of a shared vision of Lewis and U of M Press Director Phil Pochoda.
“Phil and I were talking one day and we both agreed that no one was the definitive publisher on books that pertained to Michigan or the Great Lakes,” said Lewis. “In developing this partnership we have set out to accomplish this.”
Lewis is pleased with the success to date and has taken an eclectic approach to publishing projects. He recently re-published “Crooked Tree,” a novel that was a New York Times Bestseller in the 1970s, written by Robert Wilson, a summer resident of Grayling. Lewis also believes a new series titled “Explore Michigan” will be popular with travelers.
“George Cantor edited the series with input from locals,” said Lewis.
“We will profile things to do, places to eat and more. We have individual books for Traverse City, Leelanau, Detroit, Little Traverse Bay, and the Mackinaw Straits region.”
Petoskey Publishing plans to release 16 books in 2006 including another novel set in Northern Michigan, plus “The West Michigan Almanac” and a book of aerial photography from Muskegon’s Marge Beaver.
“This woman is in her 70s and she flies her own plane and takes the best aerial photographs anyone has ever seen,” said Lewis. “She does everything herself and flies alone. Her aerial shots of the Michigan shoreline and lighthouses are unbelievable.”

BOOK SIGNINGS
While Lewis is excited about the future, he is looking forward to driving to the bookbindery outside of Detroit on Thursday to pick up the first 1,000 copies of “The Northern Michigan Almanac.”
“I expect to have driven a couple thousand miles by the end of the day on Friday, getting these books to several locations throughout northern Michigan,” said Lewis.
As for Jolly, the hard work is done and he looks forward to a series of book signings throughout the summer.
So is another book in the works for Jolly?
“Well we want him to catch his breath before we ask him to write the ‘Upper Peninsula Almanac’,” said Lewis. “We would like to start the research on that next year for possible release in ’07 or ’08.”
Ron Jolly shakes his head and smiles. It is too early for him to commit to another major undertaking. But give him some time, and eventually his inquisitive mind will draw him in and he will know the Upper Peninsula like the back of his hand.
As the “Voice of Northern Michigan,” a title he has earned from his popular morning show, Jolly has now become “keeper of the facts.” His “Northern Michigan Almanac” is fun and fact filled. It is a must read for anyone who lives here or enjoys the Northern Michigan lifestyle.
Additional information on “The Northern Michigan Almanac” and other books from Petoskey Publishing may be found at www.petoskeypublishing.com or at your favorite bookseller.


Ron Jolly will be signing his “Northern Michigan Almanac” at the following locations:

• The Bookstore, Frankfort - July 1, 1-3 pm
• Horizon‘s, TC - July 1, 7-8:30 pm
• Leelanau Books, Leland - July 2, 1:30-3 pm
• McLean & Eakin, Petoskey - July 7, 3-5 pm
• Borders, TC - July 10, 2-3:30 pm
• Known Books, Suttons Bay - July 16, 1-3 pm