Saving Gitche Gumee

"Saving Gitche Gumee" continues the political journey of Velvet LeBlanc, a First American woman elected to represent the First Congressional District of Michigan. Mysterious steel barrels have washed ashore on Lake Superior's beaches, setting her on a spiritual crusade to find their source. Her probe uncovers a decades old environmental scandal which rocks the Great Lakes region, Congress, and the White House.

Can one woman with a spiritually-inspired environmental mission overcome the efforts of a large military organization determined to hide its decades-old environmental scandal? In this sequel to the "In the Arms of Gitche Gumee" novel, the perilous journey of Velvet LeBlanc, a First American woman from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, continues. Now, as member of Congress, she probes the origins of steel barrels which washed ashore on the beaches of Lake Superior. Little does she know that the barrels were a harbinger of a much greater environmental threat to Gitche Gumee and the people of her district, and that her investigation would unlock a decades-old secret far greater in scope and scale than she had ever imagined. Her political journey is fraught with disappointment and even death, but one she feels compelled to continue despite overwhelming odds. The resolution of this Great Lakes mystery and its aftermath will surprise even those who know the troubled environmental history of Lake Superior.

James Hill was born and raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This is his second novel dealing with the politics of environmental protection in northern Michigan. He grew up in a small town within a one-hour drive of three of the five Great Lakes and developed a true passion for northern Michigan, which stayed with him even after he left for Washington, D.C. to pursue his other passion: politics. Dr. Hill worked first in the U.S. Senate and then the U.S. House of Representatives, where he developed a keen instinct for politics and the political process. Upon his return to Michigan, he drew upon this experience in his role as a university professor and a political consultant on state and federal political campaigns. Dr. Hill worked as a university professor for nearly four decades, researching and publishing academic articles on environmental politics, particularly as they relate to the Great Lakes. After retiring, he and his wife Kathy moved to the Chicago area, where he composed this novel.