Mikel B. Classen has been writing and photographing northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for over thirty-five years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan’s north country. A journalist, historian, photographer, and author with a fascination of the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past.

Currently, he is the managing editor of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. In 2020, Mikel won the Historical Society of Michigan’s, George Follo Award for Upper Peninsula History. Classen makes his home in the oldest city in Michigan, historic Sault Ste. Marie. He is also a collector of out-of-print history books and historical photographs and prints of Upper Michigan. At Northern Michigan University, he studied English, history, journalism, and photography.

His book, Au Sable Point Lighthouse, Beacon on Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast; was published in 2014 and his book, Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquette Libel Trial; was published in 2015. Both by the History Press. He has a book of fiction called Lake Superior Tales published by Modern History Press, which won the 2020 U.P. Notable Book Award. His newest release is Points North a non-fiction travel book published in 2019 by Modern History Press. Points North has received the Historical Society of Michigan’s, “Outstanding Michigan History Publication,” along with the 2021 U.P. Notable Book Award.

True Tales

True Tales – The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Stories of piracy, lost gold mines, the origin of the Copper Boom, profiles of people of note, Starvation on Isle Royale, and one of the darkest periods of Michigan history, all True Tales of the early days of the Upper Peninsula Frontier. Penned by U.P. historian, Mikel B. Classen, years of research are culminated in a book that reveals history on the verge of being lost to time. The book collects stories from across the northern peninsula making this an essential book for any Michigan history enthusiast.

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