In his recently released novel, environmental attorney and author Jim Olson tells a cautionary tale of what could happen when citizen-based coalitions clash with a global mining company over one of Northern Michigan's most revered natural resources, the pristine shoreline dunes of the western Great Lakes.
Enhanced with pen-and-ink illustrations by artists Sherry Petersen and Tajín Robles, “People of the Dune” tells a story of deep reverence for the natural world and the like-minded people who bond together for the cause of protecting it from those who seek to do it harm.
In a tense showdown between corporate interests and community values, the fate of the Voyager Dune hangs in the balance. Mython Corporation’s ambitious plans to extract the dune and replace it with a sprawling residential complex along one of North America’s Great Lakes spark a grassroots movement of resistance.
Led by local tribes, residents, and conservation groups, protesters gather at the base of the dune, forming an encampment to block the mining operation. Legal battles ensue, with Mython filing lawsuits to remove the encampment.
Meanwhile, the tribes and concerned citizens rally under the banners of the Mound People Coalition and People of the Dune, filing lawsuits to halt the destruction of this cherished landscape.
There's a powerful message in the book that Olson hopes is clear to readers.
"The reality is that our common interests in the hydrosphere, air, water and watersheds, health, economy, and Earth itself are commons on which we all depend for sustenance, health, quality of life, and economy. Over the past forty years, our expectations for personal gain and wealth have become so extreme and out of balance that the systemic harms to the survival of life on Earth and its people are close to, if not past, the point of no return. Free markets, deregulation, and accumulation of wealth are not free; those at the top have enslaved Earth and its people. The lobbying, marketing, and social media forces behind this have disconnected us from reality. Sooner or later, all of us, including those who run corporations, hedge funds, and other financial monopolies, will have to conform to reality, like it or not.
“The very notion of 'justice for all' has been shaken to the core. As Judge Odom Holmes says in the book, 'The sooner the better.'”
Olson's career as an environmental attorney—especially certain cases—informed and shaped his writing for the novel.
"The storyline undoubtedly drew from my experiences with clients and environmental cases," said Olson.
"Notably, the Superior Public Rights litigation over mining expansion in Marquette’s Upper Harbor in the early 1970s, the Friends of Crystal River litigation that saved a complex riverine system from a golf course, and the Michigan Citizens case that cut Nestle’s groundwater diversions from a stream and lakes by 75 percent in summer months involved a collision between economic forces and protection of the integrity of the public’s water commons.
"But the actual storyline picks up from a novella I published in the 1980s where a judge rejects an injunction against the mining of what was believed to be a sacred mound. I realized that there was something in the judge’s words that troubled him. 'You see,' he had written, 'until a law is passed that says land or natural resources have a value beyond mere use or economic utility, I have no choice but to rule in favor of the defendants.' I asked myself, 'Who is this judge? Why did he seem to be apologizing for the law or himself? What did he really feel and experience?' That’s when I realized there was a new story to tell, that there was a new book emerging."
People of the Dune is published by Mission Point Press of Traverse City.
The hardcover edition retails for $29.95 and is available in bookstores and online. The softcover edition will be released later this year.
About the author Jim Olson is a lawyer and writer who lives in the Great Lakes region. For five decades, he has represented citizens and communities in the courts, and authored articles, papers, and blogs on law and the environment, water, and natural resources. He is a recipient of the Michigan State Bar’s Champion of Justice Award and was named Lawyer of the Year by Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly.
In 2010, he founded For Love of Water, a nonprofit law and policy center, to protect the public commons in water, lands, and community. He is a recipient of a Michigan Council of Arts award for writing, and is the author of Environmental Law, A Citizens Guide (Neahtawanta Press, 1981), The Mound People (Neahtawanta Press, 1984), and a children’s book. His filmography includes FLOW: For Love of Water (2008), Blue Gold (2008), and Troubled Water (2019).
Enhanced with pen-and-ink illustrations by artists Sherry Petersen and Tajín Robles, “People of the Dune” tells a story of deep reverence for the natural world and the like-minded people who bond together for the cause of protecting it from those who seek to do it harm.
In a tense showdown between corporate interests and community values, the fate of the Voyager Dune hangs in the balance. Mython Corporation’s ambitious plans to extract the dune and replace it with a sprawling residential complex along one of North America’s Great Lakes spark a grassroots movement of resistance.
Led by local tribes, residents, and conservation groups, protesters gather at the base of the dune, forming an encampment to block the mining operation. Legal battles ensue, with Mython filing lawsuits to remove the encampment.
Meanwhile, the tribes and concerned citizens rally under the banners of the Mound People Coalition and People of the Dune, filing lawsuits to halt the destruction of this cherished landscape.
There's a powerful message in the book that Olson hopes is clear to readers.
"The reality is that our common interests in the hydrosphere, air, water and watersheds, health, economy, and Earth itself are commons on which we all depend for sustenance, health, quality of life, and economy. Over the past forty years, our expectations for personal gain and wealth have become so extreme and out of balance that the systemic harms to the survival of life on Earth and its people are close to, if not past, the point of no return. Free markets, deregulation, and accumulation of wealth are not free; those at the top have enslaved Earth and its people. The lobbying, marketing, and social media forces behind this have disconnected us from reality. Sooner or later, all of us, including those who run corporations, hedge funds, and other financial monopolies, will have to conform to reality, like it or not.
“The very notion of 'justice for all' has been shaken to the core. As Judge Odom Holmes says in the book, 'The sooner the better.'”
Olson's career as an environmental attorney—especially certain cases—informed and shaped his writing for the novel.
"The storyline undoubtedly drew from my experiences with clients and environmental cases," said Olson.
"Notably, the Superior Public Rights litigation over mining expansion in Marquette’s Upper Harbor in the early 1970s, the Friends of Crystal River litigation that saved a complex riverine system from a golf course, and the Michigan Citizens case that cut Nestle’s groundwater diversions from a stream and lakes by 75 percent in summer months involved a collision between economic forces and protection of the integrity of the public’s water commons.
"But the actual storyline picks up from a novella I published in the 1980s where a judge rejects an injunction against the mining of what was believed to be a sacred mound. I realized that there was something in the judge’s words that troubled him. 'You see,' he had written, 'until a law is passed that says land or natural resources have a value beyond mere use or economic utility, I have no choice but to rule in favor of the defendants.' I asked myself, 'Who is this judge? Why did he seem to be apologizing for the law or himself? What did he really feel and experience?' That’s when I realized there was a new story to tell, that there was a new book emerging."
People of the Dune is published by Mission Point Press of Traverse City.
The hardcover edition retails for $29.95 and is available in bookstores and online. The softcover edition will be released later this year.
About the author Jim Olson is a lawyer and writer who lives in the Great Lakes region. For five decades, he has represented citizens and communities in the courts, and authored articles, papers, and blogs on law and the environment, water, and natural resources. He is a recipient of the Michigan State Bar’s Champion of Justice Award and was named Lawyer of the Year by Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly.
In 2010, he founded For Love of Water, a nonprofit law and policy center, to protect the public commons in water, lands, and community. He is a recipient of a Michigan Council of Arts award for writing, and is the author of Environmental Law, A Citizens Guide (Neahtawanta Press, 1981), The Mound People (Neahtawanta Press, 1984), and a children’s book. His filmography includes FLOW: For Love of Water (2008), Blue Gold (2008), and Troubled Water (2019).
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