Hanging Out with Teacher Patti

There is nothing like fall in Ann Arbor. It feels like being wrapped in a cozy blanket while the sun shines on your head and the scent… Read more “Fall into Ann Arbor History”

A friend messaged me to ask if I knew for whom Ingalls Street was named. I did not so I went to the first place I usually… Read more “Street Names in Ann Arbor”

Happy belated Independence Day! Here in Ann Arbor we just finished our Summer Fest and had our Fourth of July parade, both of which mean summer vacation… Read more “Signal of Liberty”

(For more local history, buy VANISHING ANN ARBOR at your local bookstore or online!) Old time Ann Arborites always entertained themselves. Theater troupes visited, orators came to… Read more “The Old Opera House”

Ann Arbor has always been on the move, with things changing at various speeds throughout its decades of existence. When Rumsey & Allen founded this town in… Read more “Vanishing Ann Arbor”

Regardless of whether you celebrate the religious holiday (I do not), there is plenty of awesome to be found in modern Easter. Chocolate bunnies? Sure! Jelly bean… Read more “Easter in Old Ann Arbor”

50 more school days until Summer Break 2019! And things are already brewing for me! I will have four–count ’em–FIVE chances to rap with you about history,… Read more “Summertime Tours On Their Way!”

I’m not so good at coming up with hashtags OBVIOUSLY but I am a good judge of character. A terrible, awful, sexist, icky (not to mention poorly… Read more “#sudsnotsexism #maltnotmisogyny”

In old timey Society they had the Season which was boring balls and shit you had to dress up for. In the really old timey days the… Read more “Election Season”

The book starts like this: I’m driving away. I’m driving away as fast and as far as I can. I’m never going back. I’m going to drive… Read more “I have a fiction book coming out!”