Patrick Sullivan | Author
Nat Geo's ENC Susan Goldberg to headline National Writers Series’ 10-year Birthday Bash
Aug. 15, 2020
Although Susan Goldberg, the first female editor-in-chief of National Geographic, lives in Washington, D.C., her roots are firmly planted in Michigan. She grew up here, spent summers exploring Northern Michigan with her family, attended Michigan State University, and, as a young wr…
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The Libertarians are Coming
Aug. 8, 2020
Something in the ether, maybe, brought together a bunch of people who over the last year or so declared themselves Libertarians and got nominated to run for local, statewide, and federal office.
They’re not an easily organized group of individuals, but they are united in their…
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Three Races to Watch
July 25, 2020
Across Northern Michigan, sheriffs and prosecutors are facing challenges from within their own party.
Perhaps the most dramatic of the races, at least in terms of backstory, is in Emmet County, where a former chief assistant prosecutor has challenged his one-time boss for his job.Read More >>
MiddleCoast’s Ginger Kölsch
July 18, 2020
A new beer from Traverse City’s Middlecoast Brewing Co. is made for summer and tastes a little like Detroit’s own Vernors.
That unmistakable flavor isn’t a mistake, but what’s blended into Middlecoast’s Ginger Kölsch isn’t actually Michigan&r…
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A Novel Perspective
July 18, 2020
As the pandemic descended upon northern Michigan and changed all of our lives, Vicki Shurly, director of the Peninsula Community Library, was on the frontlines at the beginning, when the virus turned from abstraction to reality, and at the next sea change, when places like li…
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Line 5 on Trial
July 11, 2020
Times were different when Line 5 was stretched underwater across the five miles of the Straits of Mackinac in 1953. The project was barely a blip in the news. People were hungry for new sources of energy to fuel their cars and homes. The pipeline existed for decades in a blissful state of a…
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King of Beaver Island
July 4, 2020
It is possible to make the argument that James Strang is the most interesting person who ever lived in northern Lower Michigan. He was a self-proclaimed prophet, an abolitionist, a con man, possibly a pirate, and he crowned himself king of Beaver Island, ruling over its inhabitants…
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A Tale of Three Cities
June 20, 2020
On a day in the first week of January, Alex Marshall attended church, dropped family off at his mother’s house, picked up some Chinese food, and headed home. He soon realized he was being followed by a police cruiser.
The lights never flashed, and the siren never activated, Ma…
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The Time Four Guys Named Winn Decided to Start a Business
June 13, 2020
John Winn’s grandmother bought a boat when he was a child, a used 15-footer with an outboard engine big enough to pull people on waterskis.
Boating got into John Winn’s blood. He said he knew then that boating would be his life.
“And it just went from there…
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Boyne Theater to Get New Life
June 6, 2020
Just as theaters of all kinds around the world face uncertain futures amid a global pandemic, officials in Boyne City announced the revival of a historic 1903 theater.
Richard Bergman, owner of the Boyne City Taproom and the Boyne Theater, had worked for 18 months to develop a plan …
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Up North Gangland
June 6, 2020
As a professor at University of California Berkley, Robert Knapp spent decades researching and teaching ancient Roman history.
In retirement, however, he wanted to return to his own roots. He bought an old cabin near Clare, Michigan, not far from where he grew up, and started spendi…
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Northern Michigan’s Own Jeopardy! Star
May 23, 2020
Cadillac resident Ben Scripps went on a winning streak on the game show Jeopardy!, winning in his first two appearances. Unfortunately, the third appearance wasn’t a charm; Scripps ultimately lost to competitor Nathan Berger, of Portland, Maine, after making a big bet on what…
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Cadillac Cinema Might be Saved
May 16, 2020
A nonprofit group plans to save the Cadillac 4 movie theater in downtown Cadillac after the venue closed amid a bankruptcy.
The Cadillac Footliters, a community theater group, has made an offer to purchase Cadillac’s only movie theater, noting that it plans to make the hist…
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Summer People
May 16, 2020
On a sunny Friday afternoon on the first of May, the Emerald Isle, the massive 130-foot car ferry capable of carrying 294 passengers, 15 vehicles, cargo, and a semi-truck, completed its 32-mile journey and pulled into port at Beaver Island on its first trip of the season.
There w…
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Addiction Isn’t Taking a Break
May 2, 2020
Methadone saved Mariah Pelky’s life but getting the dose that helps the Interlochen resident resist her narcotics addiction requires she drives to a clinic in Gaylord six days each week.
Still, she considers herself to be one of the lucky ones. The methadone and a stable fa…
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TC Filmmaker's Doc Championed by Moore; Panned by Environmentalists
May 2, 2020
A Traverse City filmmaker’s documentary about green energy was a massive hit after Michael Moore promoted the film on his YouTube channel, garnering millions of views — but backlash from environmentalists around the world. April 25, 2020 This year’s 50th Earth Day didn’t arrive with the fanfare that long-time environmental activist Ann Rogers had hoped. April 18, 2020 Even before Friday, March 13 — the day Michigan went into a semi-lockdown and schools across the state shut their doors — local officials were devising a plan for handling the quickly approaching crisis. April 11, 2020 Northern Express set out to talk to some of the people who work in the industries that produce these products to learn how the pandemic has impacted their jobs. March 21, 2020 Recreational marijuana shops have only just started opening up around Michigan in recent months, most of them downstate.
“I am thrilled that Planet of …
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The Earth Day Celebration That Wasn't
After all, it wasn’t just a milestone for Earth Day, it was also the 40th anniversary of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, of …
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Peace or Panic? A Mid-COVID Chat with TC Police Chief O'Brien
Traverse City Police Chief Jeff O’Brien said he and other …
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Vice v. Virus
GROWING WEED IN KALKASKA
There might not yet be any pot stores open in Kalkaska, a…
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Weed in the Time of Coronavirus
But near to Traverse City, two recreational pot businesses have opened their doors, both of them in Benzie County: Great Lakes Natural Remedies Inc., in Benzon…
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