Michigan Time Capsule Book Cover Reveal

Michigan Time Capsule (2023) is a collection of sixty-two of my best Fornology.com posts written between 2012 and 2022 culled from over 520 hundred posts. These posts were chosen and revised for inclusion in this collection which is a sequel to my Detroit Time Capsule (2022).

This eclectic collection can be read from beginning to end, but each chapter is self-contained with no narrative thread binding one to the other. This volume is perfect for hit-and-run reading situations like waiting in the doctor's office or riding a bus.

Topics range from short biographies of automobile tycoons who helped create the automobile business, to tales of former Purple Gang members who could not give up the gang life. Other subjects include stories from Michigan's early pioneer history, and topics of broader interest which were too good to leave out of a "best of" collection.

Both Time Capsule books make good gifts for the Michigan history lovers in your life. Each chapter is an entertaining and informative snapshot of times past and/or people who left their mark or stain on history. This collection makes a great springboard for readers interested in learning more about Michigan's rich and sometimes violent past.

Copies are available for preorder on Amazon. As always, reader reviews are welcome.  

Michigan Time Capsule

One-Million and a Quarter Fornology Pageviews and Counting

Sue and I at Detroit Bookfest 2022. Come join us next July.

After a decade of writing my Fornology blog, I'm going to release my last anthology of my best posts called Michigan Time Capsule. It is a sequel to my Detroit Time Capsule that I released last year. Together, both volumes contain 130 of my 517 posts [25% of my best work]. Michigan Time Capsule will go to press in January 2023 and be available on my Amazon author site early this spring.

My original intention when I retired in 2009 was to write a semi-autobiographical memoir which culminated in Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel. In 2011, my publicist recommended that I start a blog. I was not enthusiastic, but she explained how blogging was a way to build an audience. Once I got the hang of it, I found I enjoyed writing the posts because of the instant gratification and interaction with my readers. 

By the time Terror In Ypsilanti was ready, I had people waiting to buy it and sold over 500 pre-release copies. That is a respectable amount for an independent title. But ten years and six books later, I am ready to ease up on the workload and pursue other interests. 

Anyone wanting to purchase any of my titles can click on my book covers in the left and right sidebars of this post, or you can check my Author Site where all of my books are listed together. Each title comes in a quality, paperback edition and all ebook formats. Terror In Ypsilanti and The Elusive Purple Gang also come in audio editions.

Thanks to all of my loyal readers for helping make my retirement productive and meaningful and to all the friends I have made along the way.

Detroit Time Capsule Anthology

After a decade writing 500 Fornology posts, I'm proud to announce the publication of my fifth book Detroit Time Capsule, which is a collection of seventy-five of my re-edited, best Detroit posts including significant historic moments, biographies of people who left their mark on the city, and memories of media personalities in the early days of Detroit television.

Detroit Time Capsule is a trip down memory lane, which should resonate with nostalgic Baby Boomers and contemporary Detroiters with a taste for learning their town's rich history and heritage.

This anthology makes a great holiday gift for readers who have an interest in easy to digest Detroit history. Most chapters are not tied by a narrative thread and can be read in three to five minutes.

And finally, I want to acknowledge Detroit/Ypsilanti photographer Chris Ahern for his striking photograph of the Monument to Joe Louis, aka The Fist (1986) by Robert Graham.

Detroit Time Capsule Amazon site

FORNOLOGY Reaches One Million Hits

Photo credit: Nicole Fribourg

It took over nine years for my Fornology.com blog to reach one million hits at 2:45 pm, October 3, 2020. My first post was on May 3, 2011, since then I've written 460 posts on a variety of topics. My current goal is to reach 500 posts before I run out of sunlight. It should take me two or three more years.

Writing my Fornology blog over the past decade has been a joy. It has helped me build an audience for my books, establish my writing voice, and improve my editing skills. Another thing I like about blogging is it is a source of instant gratification when I get comments from readers.

But truthfully, the thing I most like about blogging is that it makes me appear smarter than I really am. I owe that to my wife Sue's proofreading help, and my ability to infinitely edit my posts to make them more correct.

Many thanks to all my readers. I appreciate everyone who reads and shares my posts. I could not have reached this milestone alone.

Fornology Blog 2020--Closing in on a Million Hits

After almost ten years of blogging, my Fornology.com site will register a million hits this year. Writing blog posts has become my favorite type of writing because of the instant gratification and immediacy of reader response. What also appeals to me is a post can be endlessly revised to correct any content or grammar errors, which is not the case with published longer works where your words are imprisoned on the page.

When I began to blog at the urging of my first publicist in 2011, I was less than thrilled. I knew nothing of blogging, so I did what any self-respecting Baby Boomer would do, I bought a hard copy of Blogging for Dummies. There is no shortage of books about monetizing your blog, but I needed advice on how to build a blog.

Once I understood the nature of the beast, I began to recognize the value of building an audience by drawing readers to my site. Blogging has become my primary marketing vehicle because of its long reach and its cost--blogging is essentially free. All of my posts are offered for free, but my longer works can be purchased in my blog's sidebar. I prefer the soft rather than the hard sell.

At first, my post topics were random, but soon I focused on topics related to my longer works creating interest in my books' subjects. Not only did my blog become a research tool, it helped me develop my author's voice and writing style, all the while growing my audience.

My fornology blog provides free, nonfiction content. What is remarkable to me is that I've written 445 posts over the last nine years. My present goal is to reach 500 posts before I pull the plug and call it a career. Help me reach one-million hits by reading some of my posts you haven't seen before Check out the archive index on my blogs left sidebar. Thanks!

Top Ten Fornology Posts 

Fornology.com Marching Toward a Million Hits

When I started my Fornology.com blog in May 2011, my goal was to promote and build readership for my debut book, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel. After a year, if I got 100 hits a day or 1,000 hits for the month, I was pleased. Once I developed a core audience, I started experiencing the instant gratification of posting. In seven years, I've written over 400 blog posts and amassed over three-quarters of a million hits globally. 

I've blogged about topics related to my books Zug Island, Terror In Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked and The Richard Streicher Jr. Murder: Ypsilanti's Depot Town Mystery. My current project is about the battle for the Detroit River during Prohibition. Not wanting to blog my book while writing it, I do blog about topics related to the general research I'm doing--for instance, my post on the Thompson Machine Gun. It plays a part in my treatment of the era but only as a tool for murder and mayhem.

My latest project is about the Purple Gang, the Mafia, and the federal government's attempts to control the flood of bootleg liquor crossing the Detroit River. The United States Treasury Department estimates that 75-80% of the booze smuggled into the country crossed the river between 1920 and 1933--the Prohibition years.

As an independent author starting late in the game at sixty-one-years old, my original goal was to write a memoir and see it through to publication. The positive response and initial success of Zug Island prompted me to write a second book, and then a third. Those books have won six writing awards and two of them are Amazon best-sellers.

My current goal is to finish my fourth book within the next two years. Once that book is published, I plan to promote it for a year and then wind down my writing career. When that happens, I hope to have reached over one-million Fornology.com hits--less than 240,000 to go.

A special thank you to all of my readers, especially those who wrote reviews and posted them on Amazon. Reviews provide valuable word-of-mouth exposure and promote sales. If you like any of my books and have yet to write a review, it's not too late. That said, I'm pleased with the level of success I've achieved as an independent author and hope readers will embrace my next project.

To write a review, click on my Amazon author site, then click on the book icon, and scroll down: https://www.amazon.com/Gregory-A.-Fournier/e/B00BDNEG1C  You can also click on the book icons in the right sidebar of this page.

All-Time Top Ten Fornology.com Blog Posts

Photo Credit: Nicole Fribourg

One of my young critics wrote that my blog was old-fashioned and looked like a Monopoly property card. High praise indeed! That's when I knew I was onto something. No whistles, no bells, no GIFs, no capturing of readers' marketing information, just fact-driven posts that interest me--and as it turns out--interests others.
Several people have asked me how to find my earlier posts. Go to the left sidebar and scroll down to the Blog Archive. You can browse the titles by year and month to find a topic you like. To receive new posts automatically, you can subscribe in the upper-right corner of the site. 

Many thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and shares my Fornology posts. Here are the titles of my top ten all-time blog posts.

Posts	Page views
Detroit's Greektown Stella - Iconic Homeless Woman... Dec 26, 2017,	50546
Alex Karras and Dick the Bruiser's Detroit Bar Bra... Feb 13, 2017,	17701
Terror in Ypsilanti Book Cover Reveal May 9, 2016,	15084
"Kosher Nostra"--Detroit's Purple Gang Origins Feb 27, 2018,	12934
Henry Ford's Electric Railroad - The DT&I Feb 16, 2018,	11367
Detroit Baby Boomer Kids Show Hosts Dec 11, 2017,	8098
Allen Park's Uniroyal Giant Tire--Fifty Years Old-... May 21, 2015,	7615
The Rise and Fall of Detroit's Purple Gang Mar 4, 2018,	7529
The Detroit Area Salt Mine Apr 28, 2015,	7261
Harry Bennett's Role in the Ypsilanti Torch Murder... Sep 15, 2015,	6560

GREGORYAFOURNIER.COM Author Website Running

Photo: Nicole Fribourg

Spring 2016 was busy for me. I completed Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked (TIY) and re-edited Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel for a revised 2nd edition commemorating fifty years since the civil unrest of July 23, 1967.

As if that was not enough, I also earned my cyberpunk badge learning to build and maintain my new author website. Starting today, I am open for business.

Terror in Ypsilanti will go to print in mid-July. Advanced copies are available at gregoryafournier.com. Expect four to six weeks for delivery until books are in the pipeline. All orders must be within the delivery reach of the United States Postal Service.

The final page count for TIY will come near 480 pages including a map commissioned for the book, several reader supplements, a photo gallery, and a subject index. I have not been told the final price point, but I have seen an Author Review Copy of the book and am pleased with the end result. I'm certain the book version won't be listed under $24.95 because of its length and quality.

I am direct marketing TIY on my website for $20 plus $4 postage and handling. An e-book Kindle edition will be available on Amazon.com in the near future as well as the paperback edition. Discounted bulk and library copies will be available soon from my publisher Wheatmark.com. They honor a one-year return policy to vendors for unsold books.

The publishing business is notoriously slow.

In January 2016 at the San Diego State University Writer's Conference, I met literary agent Chip MacGregor. After reading my manuscript, he was interested in representing my book. 

MacGregor was optimistic he could place the book with a traditional publisher but warned it would take two years to see TIY in print. Waiting two more years was unacceptable.

When he told me I would lose creative control beyond the manuscript, I decided to independently publish through Wheatmark. I did not want to see my vision for the book corrupted. By independently publishing, I made all the decisions. My researcher Ryan M. Place in Detroit and I have worked too long and hard to make compromises and cede creative control to a publishing house concerned primarily with the bottom line. 

Building an audience and keeping readers interested is not open-ended. Five years is a long time to ask readers to wait. Several key people who helped me tell this story have died and others anxiously await the book's release. I wrote the best account I could with what I had to work with. Now, it is time for the book to find its audience.

--My author website link: http://gregoryafournier.com

FORNOLOGY Fifth Anniversary--325 Blog Posts Later

Photo: Nick Abadilla Photography

When Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel came out in 2011, my publicist Paula Margulies urged me to create a blog to establish a brand and help build an audience. I was reluctant because I felt the time and effort required to launch and maintain a site was out of proportion to any benefit I might reap. Five years and three hundred, twenty-five posts later, I can confidently say I was wrong.

Blogging original content does take time, but what I get in return is valuable. Here are ten benefits which make the effort worth my time.

• structured writing practice
• development of my writing voice
• establishment of my brand
• audience building
• national and international exposure
• improved editing skills
• an information and research gathering tool
• a vehicle for reader input and response
• a platform for my work
• and a legacy log for my grandchildren

From my work station stuck in the corner of my family room, I try to crank out a new post every seven to ten days. If I am out of town or backed up on other projects, I occasionally rerun a post, but I prefer to produce original content.

Regular readers of Fornology know my blog topics are eclectic and range from short historical pieces on Detroit and Michigan to travelogues on the places and people I visit. Some posts are about my books or about writing or blogging in general. Like this one.

Because Fornology is not a commercial site or tied to a professional organization, my hits come exclusively from people who show an interest in me or my work. When I returned from a speaking tour of Ann Arbor and Detroit this week, I discovered my blog reached a personal milestone of over 200,000 hits. Most of my hits are from the United States, but my international audience includes Russia (9,381), Germany (7,531), Ukraine (6,994), France (4,690), Canada (3,510), and countries across the globe.

With the help of my blog and the internet, people nationwide contacted me with information helping me tell the forty-seven year old story of Michigan serial killer John Norman Collins. Without these valuable resource vehicles, the writing of Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked would not have been possible. Now undergoing a final line edit, my nonfiction account of the Washtenaw County killer will be available in July 2016 on Amazon.com and Kindle.

Photo: Nicole Fribourg

Many thanks to everyone who follows my posts. If you would like to receive my Fornology posts automatically, subscribe by writing your email address in the Posts box in the right-hand side bar. Be assured, I do not capture, collect, or distribute your contact information. Every Share I get is appreciated.

Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel Gets Facelift

Photo by Nicole Fribourg

While I am waiting to get Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked back from my editor, I decided to revise Zug Island for a second edition in preparation of the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Riots in July of 2017. 

In addition to correcting minor errors and rewriting a couple of ambiguous passages, I supplemented several areas to include more content. For example, in the riot section I added several paragraphs about the Algiers Motel incident made famous by author John Hershey. The Detroit Police were hoping this multiple murder would get lost in the fog of war, but there were too many witnesses for it to be ignored. Now, it is part of Detroit's history.
 
Beyond supplementing and revising Zug Island, the novel will have a new cover. I want to cross-market Zug with Terror when that book comes out in July. Both will be available through Amazon and Kindle. When I get specific release information, I will pass it on through my blog. I'm hoping to set up an advanced sales mechanism, so interested people can preorder Terror. Readers who subscribe to my Fornology blog will be the first notified. Your privacy is assured. I do not collect contact information nor share it on the internet. 

Terror in Ypsilanti is independently published and needs all the exposure I can muster. With your help, we can make this long-awaited and overdue nonfiction treatment of the Washtenaw County murders and John Norman Collins' involvement a success.

Thanks.

Zug Island first edition Goodreads reviews: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11408295-zug-island

Ukraine Ranks Second Largest Fornology Audience

Ukrainian folk costume with lovely traditional hand embroidery.

Since I began my blog in May of 2011, the United States has been my biggest audience of Fornology readers by far. But from the start, the second place spot has been shared alternately by Great Britain, Canada, and Germany, with Australia occasionally making a run for the second place spot. But in 2013, I added a translator feature to Fornology's sidebar and noticed a change in my international audience ratings. 

Russia had always made my top ten audience list but now they were climbing up the ranks. France and China started to hit my blog list at roughly the same time, but second place seemed to belong to Russia and Germany for many months on my All-time category report. Then Turkey began to rise up the ranks of my top ten and showed an interest in what I was writing. Finally, in late 2013 and into early 2014, Ukraine started making it onto the listing.

This new audience began to bound up my top ten list. Finally it happened. Ukraine leaped into second place in every reported category for the last month (Now, Day, Week, Month, and All-time).  No other country had come on as strong and as fast as Ukraine. It struck me that I needed to find out more about these proud people who have suffered much at the hands of history.

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	79921
Ukraine	3099
Germany	2896
Russia	2869
France	2080
Canada	1958
United Kingdom	1724
Turkey	1224
China	915
Spain	705

(All-time list as of October 13th, 2014)
 
Like most Americans, I am woefully ignorant about Ukraine, other than it has been having sovereignty problems with the Russians over Crimea, and they have been moving towards possible civil war. Unlike many Americans, I can find Ukraine on the map. It is in southeastern Europe bordering the Black Sea between Poland, Romania, and Moldova to the west and the Great Russian Bear to the east. Its capital city is Kiev (Kyiv), one of the oldest and largest cities in Europe. Ukraine is 603,550 square kilometers with a population of 45,000,000 people.

In high school, all we were taught in history class about "the Ukraine" was that it was the "Breadbasket of the Soviet Union," and its people were brutalized by the Soviets and the Nazis during World War II. Why Ukrainians have shown such a strong interest in my Fornology blog is a mystery to me, so I decided to learn more about them, their history, and their culture and pass that information on to my Fornology readers.

The Ukrainian National Flag

In recent history, Ukraine became independent from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) when that communist regime dissolved in 1991. It is on August 24th that Ukrainians celebrate their Independence Day. The national flag of Ukraine was adopted in 1992. It simply consists of two stripes arranged horizontally, one blue stripe on top representing the skies and rivers of Ukraine and a yellow stripe below symbolizing Ukraine's lush golden wheat fields. Ukraine has a fledgling constitutional republic struggling to maintain its country's independence from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky, "Hetman of Ukraine", established an independent Ukraine after the uprising in 1648 against Poland.

Ukraine has an ancient history and its territory has changed hands and moved around many times since it was founded in 882 AD as Kievan Rus', a center for Slavic trade and culture. In 1240 AD there was a Mongol conquest, but by the 14th Century, the region was ruled by the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Poland before becoming a Cossack state in 1648. For much of the 18th and 19th Centuries, most of Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, and the rest was controlled by the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Ukraine was free for a brief period after the Russian Revolution between 1917-1920. Ukraine became a republic of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991, when that communist regime collapsed. Check the link below for more detailed information and a timeline from CNN on Ukraine's ongoing political crisis.

Traditional Ukrainian cuisine

Ukrainian food is typically Eastern European. Hard cheeses, sausage, and borshch (beet soup), the national soup of Ukraine, are traditional dishes. Holubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls), kovbasa (smoked or boiled sausage), and varenyky (dumplings with various meat, fruit, or vegetable fillings) are also part of traditional Ukrainian cuisine. Baked goods are bublik (similar to a bagel but bigger), babka (Easter bread made with sweet dough and dried fruit baked in a tall, cylindrical shape), and paska (traditional butter and egg rich Easter bread decorated with Easter symbols baked on top).

 

A Ukrainian folk art is Pysanka, decorated Easter eggs which are well-known the world over. Each region has its own traditional designs. They use the wax relief method to write intricate designs with beeswax to create symbolic patterns, next the eggs are dyed colors that also carry symbolic significance. The eggs are strongly tied to the Easter holiday and are painted during Holy Week to symbolize the rebirth of man and Jesus Christ's resurrection.

Woven goods with colorful embroidered motifs from around the country are found in traditional folk costumes worn for holidays and special occasions. Men's shirts and women's blouses and decorative vests are embroidered in brilliant colors with regional patterns, each with its own symbolic meaning.

Ukrainian customs and culture are heavily influenced by Christianity. Almost ninety percent of Ukraine's religious community is either Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, or Roman Catholic, though forty percent of its general population claim to be atheists. This is a residual effect of the Russification of Ukraine's population during Soviet domination to discourage Ukrainian national identity. But without their religious traditions to bind them through the dark times, Ukraine would long ago have lost its national identity, its heart, and its very soul. Even now, Ukraine struggles.

 

The Ukrainian people enjoy celebrations with family and friends, but as a people, they tend to be fatalistic because of their history and geography. Their country has been the corridor to Europe in the west and the gateway to Asia in the east since before written history. Their history is written in blood and is reflected in the Ukrainian anthem, Shche ne vmerla Ukraina (Ukraine has not yet died!). May Ukraine live long and prosper!

For more background on Ukraine's current political crisis with Russia, consult this CNN link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/europe/ukraine-fast-facts/

Petrykivka - Ukrainian ornamental folk art documentary in the Ukraine language. If the audio distracts you, turn the sound down and enjoy the visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvcffwMpWg

Fornology Hits 100,000 Milestone

I started my Fornology blog in May of 2011 at the urging of my publicist Paula Margulies. She explained to me the importance of establishing a brand and building an audience. I was happy to have just completed my first publishing effort, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, and was less than thrilled with taking on a new, open-ended writing challenge. How do I get started? What will I write about? How much of my time will it take? Who will read my blog?

I had never even read a blog before, much less developed one, but I knew that I didn't want to get mired down with blogging when all I wanted to do was get started on my next project. I mentioned these concerns to Paula, and she put it to me like this, "If you are not willingly to take the time and the effort to establish and promote yourself as an author, publishers will not invest their time and resources in making you a success." Paula's logic was irrefutable, so I reluctantly headed over to the brick and mortar bookstore like any print-oriented Baby Boomer and purchased a copy of Blogging for Dummies.

What I had first regarded as drudgery, slowly developed into a routine. On my first month, May 2011, I received 288 hits. By October 2011, six months later, I was averaging 500 hits per month. I was starting to feel more comfortable with blogging. Not only was I getting some public exposure, I was also developing my writing voice.

I set a goal of producing a new post every week or so, and then it happened, I got hooked on the instant gratification of blogging. Since October 2013, I have been averaging 5,000 hits per month. After three years and three months, I've reached a total of 100,000 hits. My core audience is from the United States, but Fornology has gone global. I've been told by people in the publishing business that the 100K threshold is when agents and editors start taking writers more seriously.

The publishing business is changing dramatically. It has never been easy to rise up above the slush pile of unpublished manuscripts which clutter the offices of most agents and editors. Today, if people in the publishing business show an interest in handling your work, they first go to your blog to see what you write about and how you handle the subject matter. With 100,000 hits, 260 posts to my credit, and an almost complete manuscript of The Rainy Day Murders, I'm open for business.

To learn more about Paula Margulies Communications, check out: http://paulamargulies.blogspot.com/

Zug Island Book Talk At Pasquale's in Royal Oak, Michigan - September 30th, 2014

I am pleased to announce that I will be in the Detroit area speaking about Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel on September 30th, 2014 at 8:00 PM. The event will be held at Pasquale's Italian Restaurant in the Mediterranean Room located at 31555 Woodward Ave. in Royal Oak, Michigan. The Book Club of Detroit (BCD) and the Detroit Drunken History Society (DDHS) are co-sponsoring the event. An elevator is available for disabled patrons.

In addition to discussing Zug Island and my experiences working there in the summer of 1967, I will give some historical background about the Detroit area in the Sixties and some of the factors that led to the worst urban riot in the history of the United States. The tremors and fallout from that "rebellion," as it was known by many intercity Detroiters, are still being felt by the city today.

Zug Island Where the Rouge and Detroit Rivers Meet

If you would like to join us for dinner before the book talk, the cost is $26 ($23 for DBC members). For attendees not interested in purchasing dinner, there will be a $5 admission fee for non-DBC members to help offset the cost of the banquet room. The dinner starts at 6:30 PM with the book talk starting just after 8:00 PM.

Available entree choices are eggplant parmigiana, chicken cacciatore, or boiled cod. All meals come with your choice of Caesar or Greek salad, mostaccioli with marinara or Alfredo sauce, green beans amandine, and Italian bread or garlic bread sticks. Coffee, tea, pop (soda), and juice are included with the meal, or a cash bar is available for beer, wine, or spirits.

Advance registration for dinner is required. Checks and entree choices should be mailed to:
   
Book Club of Detroit                                                   
Maurice Barie
860 Spencer
Ferndale, MI 48220

Link to BCD: http://www.bookclubofdetroit.org/ 
Link to DDHS: http://www.meetup.com/Detroit-Drunken-Historical-Society/
 



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              

Gregory Fournier Presents a Compelling Tale of Friendship and Racial Strife in

Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel

Santee, CA – The statistics remain legend: 43 reported deaths, 7,000 arrests, over 4,000 injuries, 2,500 buildings looted or burnt to the ground, 5,000 residents left homeless, 16,682 fire runs, and a river of fire ten blocks long. In 1967, the Model City erupted in flames as African Americans took to the streets to protest the city’s atmosphere of racial hatred and prejudice. Gregory Fournier’s debut novel, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel (ISBN 978-1-4116-8691-5), takes place during this chaotic time, when the race riots in Detroit led to one of the most explosive episodes of civil unrest in United States history.

Set in rust-belt Michigan in 1967, Zug Island tells the story of Jake Malone, an eighteen-year-old college student who is kicked out of school and find works as one of the few white employees in the labor crew at Great Lakes Steels' Zug Island blast furnace and coke oven complex. Forced to prove that he can handle the grueling physical work on the island, Jake earns the respect of his African American coworkers and develops a tentative friendship with Theo Semple, a restless steelworker who longs to reunite with his wife and son in Memphis, Tennessee. The two men find camaraderie despite the racial animosity and violence that exists on Detroit’s mean streets. When riots break out across the city of Detroit, Jake must defend his friendship with Theo and reconcile his own mixed feelings about his position in the world. 

An unflinching look at segregated suburbia and the environment of civil strife that led to the race riots of the sixties, Zug Island explores the events leading up to the largest and worst riot in the nation's history, while providing an unconditional look at a young man forced to deal, for the first time, with open prejudice. Told with straightforward candor and an authentic voice, Zug Island is a coming-of-age story that explores the bonds of loyalty and friendship in the face of entrenched racial tension and civil unrest.

“After almost fifty years, the shadow of the riots still hangs over the Detroit area like a dark cloud, though many of the area’s youth know little or nothing about them,” said Fournier. “The lessons learned and the memory of the forty-three victims is fading from the collective consciousness. This is what prompted me to write Zug Island.”

Gregory A. Fournier received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Eastern Michigan University in English Language Arts and Sociology. He has taught secondary school for over thirty years in Michigan and San Diego, and he was an adjunct professor at Cuyamaca College in San Diego County for ten years. In addition to Zug Island, he has written a stage adaptation of Crime and Punishment. He is currently finishing up his next project, a true crime work about Ypsilanti serial killer John Norman Collins entitled The Rainy Day Murders.

       For more information on Gregory A. Fournier or Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, please visit: zugislandthenovel.com or http://amazon.com/Gregory-A.-Fournier/e/B00BDNEG1C