The Ten-Year Anniversary Edition Back in Boston, the thought of settling in a new land had seemed a romantic adventure to share with her new husband. Now, despite the lush green trees, and the sandy golden beaches, she began to fear what wild animals or unfriendly Indians might lurk in those woods, and she sensed the loneliness to come of being so far from her family. When iron ore is discovered in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the 1840s, newlyweds Gerald Henning and his beautiful socialite wife, Clara, travel from Boston to the little village of Marquette, on the shores of Lake Superior. The Hennings and their companions—Irish and German immigrants, French Canadians, and fellow New Englanders—dream of a great metropolis at the center of the iron ore industry. Despite blizzards, near starvation, devastating fires, and financial hardships, these iron pioneers persevere. In time, their wilderness village becomes integral to the Union cause in the Civil War and, then, a prosperous modern city. Meticulously researched, warmly written, and spanning half a century, Iron Pioneers is a testament to the spirit that forged America. This ten-year anniversary edition includes a new preface by the author.

Iron Pioneers: The Marquette Trilogy: Book One

Literature & Fiction

Tichelaar, Tyler R.

Genre Fiction

Tyler R. Tichelaar

In small towns, people depend on each other. In Upper Michigan, through long, harsh winters and economic woes, people form bonds even without blood ties. On this day of civic pride, an entire city became one family, a city filled with people descended from a handful of brave pioneers who came to Iron Bay a century before to build a community which still prospered. As Marquette’s pioneers pass away, new generations forge ahead to make Marquette the Queen City of the North. Here is the tale of a small town undergoing change from horses, kerosene, and telegraphs to automobiles, electricity, and radio. Here is the American Dream played out in the lives of people who overcome the Great Depression and two world wars to celebrate their city’s centennial. Old friends from Iron Pioneers return along with a multitude of fascinating new characters. Margaret Dalrymple finds her Scottish prince, though he is neither Scottish nor a prince. Molly Bergmann inspires her grandchildren. Jacob Whitman’s children engage in a family feud. The Queen City’s residents marry, divorce, have children, die, break their hearts, go to war, gossip, blackmail, raise families, leave and return to Marquette. And always, always they are in love with the haunting land that is their home.

The Queen City: The Marquette Trilogy: Book Two

The Marquette Trilogy comes to a satisfying conclusion by bringing together characters and plots from the earlier novels and culminating with Marquette’s 1999 sesquicentennial celebration. Madeleine Henning’s story is finally revealed as secrets from the past shed light upon the present. The novel’s main character, John Vandelaare, is descended from all the early Marquette families in Iron Pioneers and The Queen City. While he cherishes his family’s past, he questions whether he should remain in his hometown. Then an unexpected event changes his life forever.

Superior Heritage: The Marquette Trilogy: Book Three

Literary

Narrow Lives is the story of those whose lives were affected by Lysander Blackmore, the sinister banker first introduced to readers in The Queen City. It is a novel that stands alone, yet readers of The Marquette Trilogy will be reacquainted with several familiar characters. Written as a collection of connected short stories, each told in first person by a different character, Narrow Lives depicts the influence one person has, even in death, upon others, and it explores the prisons of grief, loneliness, and fear self-created when people doubt their own worthiness.

Narrow Lives: a novel

The Only Thing That Lasts is written as the autobiography of Robert O'Neill, the famous novelist first introduced in The Marquette Trilogy. As a young boy during World War I, Robert is forced to leave his South Carolina home to live in Marquette with his grandmother and aunt. He finds there a cold climate, but many warmhearted friends as he matures into adulthood and becomes a famous writer. The Only Thing That Lasts is a joyful, lighthearted, yet meaningful story of home and hearth. Mr. Tichelaar says of this work, "The Only Thing That Lasts is the first novel I ever wrote. I wanted to write an old-fashioned novel in the style of Louisa May Alcott or L. Frank Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces, or even Marquette's own Carroll Watson Rankin, whose Dandelion Cottage first made Marquette the setting for a novel."

The Only Thing That Lasts: a novel

An irritating best friend gained during a childhood spent in a Catholic orphanage, a father who became a Communist and went to Russia in the 1930s, and 3:00 a.m. visits to The Pancake House. Such is the life of Lyla Hopewell. But in the summer of 2005, when her old boyfriend Bill has a heart attack, her best friend Bel really gets on her nerves, and Finn Fest comes to Marquette, things will change for Lyla. Joined by a cast of Marquette’s most eccentric and endearing characters—the foul-mouthed fourteen-year-old Josie; ninety-three-year-old Eleanor, still trying to fix her little brother’s love life; ex-boyfriend and blunt womanizer, Bill; blind Mary Mitchell and her ornery sister Florence; the sweet but romantically confused cabdriver Sybil; and many, many more—Lyla recounts her life-story as she comes to terms with her past. After years of feeling unloved, neglected, frustrated, and unfulfilled, can Lyla finally find her own best place?

The Best Place

Following his father’s death, Adam Delaney has acquired his father’s title as Earl of Delaney and married Anne, who has given birth to their twin sons, Lance and Tristan. Now Adam and Anne have taken a much-needed vacation in France, leaving their sons at Delaney Castle with Adam’s mother and grandmother and Anne’s father. But what begins as a pleasant and long overdue honeymoon soon becomes another strange mythical adventure when Anne reunites with her old friend, Morgan, while the couple is visiting Lusignan, home to the legendary fairy Melusine. Before Anne knows it, she finds herself listening to stories within stories about the fairy Melusine and the magical rings she left to her children, magical rings that are tied to Adam and Anne’s future in ways they can scarcely imagine. Melusine’s Gift is the second of five books in Tyler R. Tichelaar’s Children of Arthur series following Arthur’s Legacy.

Melusine's Gift: The Children of Arthur, Book Two

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Fantasy

Some stories deserve to be told. "Willpower" is an original historical play based on the real life of Will Adams at the turn of the twentieth century.... As a young boy Will Adams’ soft tissues were becoming harder, turning him into a living statue. Others faced with such a dark future might have felt sorry for themselves, turning inward. But not Will. Determined to enjoy every moment, he embarked on an energetic life of creativity using his legs, arms, eyesight, and wit for as long as he could. While confined to a bed, he ran a newspaper, drew cartoons, and wrote an operetta with his best friend Norma Ross. "Willpower" first brought Will Adams’ story to the stage, and this publication presents the full script as it was first produced at Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette, Michigan, by the Marquette Regional History Center, in September 2014. It includes images from the production, insight from the director, historical commentary from the playwright, and the music used in the production.

Willpower: An Original Play about Marquette’s Ossified Man

Dramas & Plays

“Haunted Marquette deftly weaves history, urban legends, and unexplained phenomena into a kaleidoscope of ghostly hauntings that reveal a side of the Queen City most of us have never experienced but perhaps always feared was there.” — Sonny Longtine, author of Murder in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Over Forty Tales of Ghosts and Paranormal Experiences Founded as a harbor town to ship iron ore from the nearby mines, Marquette became known as the Queen City of the North for its thriving industries, beautiful buildings, and being the largest city in Upper Michigan. But is Marquette also the Queen of Lake Superior’s Haunted Cities? Seventh-generation Marquette resident Tyler Tichelaar has spent years collecting tales of the many ghosts who haunt the cemeteries, churches, businesses, hotels, and homes of Marquette. Now, separating fact from fiction, he delves into the historical record to determine which stories may be true and which are just the fancies of frightened minds. Hear the chilling tales of: • The wicked nun who killed an orphan boy • The librarian mourning her sailor lover • The drowned sailors who climb out of Lake Superior at night • The glowing lantern of the decapitated train conductor • The mailman who gave his life for the U.S. mail • More ghostly ladies in floor-length white gowns than any haunted city should have Haunted Marquette opens up a fourth dimension view of the Queen City’s past and reveals that much of it is still present.

Haunted Marquette: Ghost Stories from the Queen City

History

Americas

“Roosevelt lies and curses in the most disgusting way; he gets drunk, too, and that not infrequently, and all of his intimates know about it.” — George Newett, The Iron Ore newspaper, October 12, 1912 When the above words appeared in print, they resulted in one of the most famous libel trials of the early twentieth century. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was on campaign on the Progressive “Bull Moose” ticket, but his break from the Republican party had caused him to have many detractors. When a small town Michigan newspaper editor accused him of being drunk while campaigning, Roosevelt decided to make an example of him. Matthew Newman, reporter for the New York Empire Sentinel, should have seen his assignment to cover the trial as the opportunity of a lifetime. But Matthew is also a native of Marquette, Michigan, where the trial will be held. Matthew left Marquette long ago and does not relish returning to deal with a distant sister and her drunkard husband, or to attend his niece’s wedding, set for the weekend after the trial begins. The situation becomes more difficult for Matthew when he learns that Roosevelt is staying at the home of George Shiras. Once close friends, Matthew and George have not seen each other in years after a serious blow caused Matthew to leave Marquette. Now he is uncertain how to deal with George’s overtures of friendship. As one witness after another, from navy admirals and secretaries to bodyguards and butlers, are called forth to testify in Roosevelt’s defense, Matthew must call forth his past and come to terms with it. Novelist Tyler Tichelaar, a native of Marquette, Michigan, goes where biographers have never gone in detailing not only the significance of the often-ignored Roosevelt libel trial, but also how Roosevelt’s presence stirred Upper Michigan into a frenzy of excitement. This is the tale of a big man in a small town, how that small town responded, and how we all influence one another, often in unseen ways.

When Teddy Came to Town

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Books by Tyler R. Tichelaar