University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine 2018 Fall Libraries Magazine | Page 38

Book about Great Lakes Chosen for Go Big Read
By Käri Knutson,
University Communications
Dan Egan
38 | LIBRARIES Fall 2018
T
here’s a good reason they’re called the
Great Lakes. The interconnected chain of
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior
spans 94,000 square miles, supplying about
20 percent of surface fresh water globally and
providing sustenance, work, and recreation
for tens of millions of Americans.
But there’s cause for concern, Dan Egan
writes in The Death and Life of the Great
Lakes. The book, written by the two-time
Pulitzer-Prize finalist and reporter for the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is the 2018–19 Go
Big Read selection.
Egan paints a portrait of an ecological
catastrophe happening right before our eyes,
blending the epic story of the lakes with an
examination of the perils they face, and the
ways we can restore and preserve them for
generations to come.
“This book takes a historical look at the
Great Lakes with deep affection and concern
for the future,” said Chancellor Rebecca
Blank. “It’s written in a way that pulls readers
in and serves as a reminder that we can’t
take these wonderful resources for granted.
This book should appeal to our students,
particularly given the rapid growth in classes
that address environmental issues. Plus over
80 percent of our fall 2017 incoming freshman
come from states that border the Great Lakes,
so for them this is personal.”
Egan, a senior water policy fellow at the
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s School
of Freshwater Sciences, has covered the Great
Lakes since 2003. A native of Green Bay,
Wisconsin, he grew to love Lake Michigan by
spending summer weekends and vacations
on the Door County Peninsula. Egan won
an AAAS Kavli Science
Journalism Award in
2013, the Oakes Award
for environmental
journalism in 2006,
and has received
four National
Headliner Awards for
environmental and
science reporting. He investigated threats
to the Great Lakes and the effectiveness of
government efforts to protect them during
a nine-month O’Brien Fellowship in Public
Service Journalism through the Diederich
College of Communication at Marquette
University.
His book has received numerous accolades
and was named the April 2018 pick for the
PBS News Hour-New York Times book club. In
telling what might otherwise be a grim tale,
Egan nimbly splices together history, science,
reporting and personal experiences into a
taut and cautiously hopeful narrative, said
Robert Moor of The New York Times.
Forbes named it one of the 10 best
environmental, climate science and
conservation books of 2017, saying “Egan’s
touches of humor and discussions of the
relatively simple things we must do to restore
and revitalize this precious freshwater sea
make this compulsively readable account
into a surprisingly hopeful and empowering
book.”
Students, faculty and staff use the book in
classrooms and for special events, including a
visit from the author. Copies of the book were
given to first-year students at the Chancellor’s
Convocation for New Students and to
students using the book in their classes.
The Go Big Read program is an initiative of
the Office of the Chancellor.
Collect them all!