Roger LeLievre

This is essentially a photo book of Great Lakes ships. The photos were drawn from six decades of an annual magazine called Know Your Ships, first published in 1959 and edited by LeLievre and his predecessor, Tom Manse.

The book begins with an essay about Manse and the annual he produced in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. At the other end of the book is a reminiscence by editor LeLievre about growing up on the Lakes, watching ships--and about how boatwatching on the Lakes has changed since he was a kid.

In between are pictures of ships, arranged mostly chronologically. Mainly there are ore and grain carriers, with an occasional tug, or saltie (salt-water ship), or Coast Guard vessel, or other miscellaneous critters. The best of the photographs are absolutely stunning and no image is less than very good. Photos by Manse dominate the early years. LeLievre and the leaders of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit took many of the mid-book pix. In later years a panoply of photographers bring new perspectives and more variety. There's a wee bit of narrative, and some of the photo captions tell more than the ship's name and location, but mostly the book is photographs.

It's delightful, and highly recommended.… (more)