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For Kath Usitalo \u201976, summer vacation as a child growing up in metro Detroit meant one thing: Making the trip north to spend time with family in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, where her parents were born.<\/p>\nFor Kath Usitalo \u201976, summer vacation as a child growing up in metro Detroit meant one thing: Making the trip north to spend time with family in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, where her parents were born.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually didn\u2019t do a lot of touristy things,\u201d Usitalo said.\u00a0\u201cWe had picnics and beach time, saw some waterfalls. We would pick wild strawberries and just hang out.\u00a0We did go to Brockway Mountain Drive, mainly because it was\u00a0on the way to my aunt and uncle\u2019s cabin on Lake Superior.\u00a0My mom\u2019s sister married a dairy farmer and I loved staying on the farm with those cousins in the little mid-peninsula town of Rock. We would go to the U.P. State Fair, play in the hay barn, swim at a nearby inland lake, went to\u00a0sauna. Simple stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, when Usitalo moved to the Upper Peninsula full-time in 2014, writing a book on the area \u201cseemed like the next step\u201d for the University of Detroit alumna.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen I first started freelancing there were a lot of\u00a0magazine and newspaper\u00a0outlets for travel stories. I also contributed to guidebooks,\u201d she said. \u201cAs those markets started drying up, I was thinking about self-publishing a book about the U.P.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usitalo, who lives in Naubinway., has written three books about the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island for publisher Reedy Press from 2017-2019. Her most recent work, \u201cSecret Upper Peninsula: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure,\u201d released in October 2019. Her other two books are part of Reedy Press\u2019 \u201c100 Things to Do\u201d series and explore the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island, hitting bookshelves in April 2017 and April 2018, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I learned about Reedy Press I pitched the U.P. for their \u2018100 Things to Do\u2019 series,\u201d Usitalo said. \u201cWith \u2018100 Things Mackinac Island,\u2019 I wanted to let people know that there\u2019s more to do there than sample fudge and ride a bike. Next came \u2018Secret Upper Peninsula,\u2019 because I love\u00a0the\u00a0\u2018weird, wonderful and obscure,\u2019 and there\u2019s lots of that in the U.P.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usitalo graduated from University of Detroit with a degree in Communication Studies. She worked in Michigan\u2019s tourism industry and was vice president of communications for the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau before leaving to become a freelance travel writer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up\u00a0specializing in Michigan because I could easily explore the state with two little kids,\u201d Usitalo said.<\/p>\n