"The Living Great Lakes is the definitive book about these remarkable bodies of water at the heart of North America. Through storms and fog, on remote shores and city waterfronts, and during an adventure-filled six-week voyage as a crewmember on a tall-masted schooner, Dennis explores the lakes in all seasons and moods, and discovers that they and their connecting waters--including the Erie Canal, the Hudson River, and the East Coast from New York to Maine--offer a surprising and bountiful view of America. The result is a meditation on our place in nature, a discussion and cautionary tale about the future of water resources, and a celebration of a place that is both fragile and robust, diverse, rich in history and wildlife, often misundertstood, and worthy of our attention."--Back cover