Grand Island

Mikel B. Classen has been writing and photographing northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for forty years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan's north country. A journalist, historian, photographer and author with a fascination of the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past. He is founder of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. In 2020, Mikel won the Historical Society of Michigan's George Follo Award for Upper Peninsula History. Classen makes his home in the oldest city in Michigan, historic Sault Ste. Marie. He is also a collector of out-of-print history books, and historical photographs and prints of Upper Michigan. At Northern Michigan University, he studied English, history, journalism and photography. His books: Au Sable Point Lighthouse, Beacon on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast was published in 2014 Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquette Libel Trial was published in 2015 by the History Press.Lake Superior Tales won the 2020 U.P. Notable Book Award for fiction.Points North is a non-fiction travel book received the Historical Society of Michigan's "Outstanding Michigan History Publication," along with a 2021 U.P. Notable Book Award. Since then, he has released, True Tales, the Forgotten History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Faces, Places, & Days Gone By, a Pictorial History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, published by Modern History Press.Mikel is co-author of Yooper Ale Trails along with Jon C. Stott, also published by Modern History Press. He released his first novel, The Alexandria Code, an Isabella Carter Adventure, published by Modern History Press (2023). Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates received a 2026 U.P. Notable Book Award. To learn more about Mikel B. Classen and to see more of his work, go to his website at www.mikelbclassen.com.