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Happenings in the Keweenaw Peninsula November 7, 2002 Text and Photos © 2002 Keweenaw Land Trust Press Release. Reprinted with permission.

Peter Forbes, conservationist photographer, to speak Nov. 10 at Finnish American Heritage Center

HANCOCK -- Peter Forbes, National Fellow of the Trust for Public Land, will give a free public talk entitled "Our Land, Ourselves: A Celebration of People and Place" at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock. The talk is sponsored by the Keweenaw Land Trust. Forbes' visit will also include a musical event at the Little Gem Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, and visits with Hancock Middle School students and area business and planning leaders.

Forbes, whose groundbreaking work is a stunning reminder of the importance of land conservation, is a photographer, storyteller and farmer. His work has taken him around the world -- from Nepal to the Andes to the villages of New England -- to record, protect and convey the importance of a strong human relationship with the land.

"I heard Peter speak last year at the Land Trust Rally in Baltimore and was so inspired by his message that we decided to bring him to the Keweenaw to inspire all of us!" said Christa Walck, Keweenaw Land Trust president. "By sharing his rich experiences and stunning photographic images, Forbes will encourage us to recognize and strengthen our connections to all that makes the Keweenaw our home and our place."

For ten years, Forbes led the land conservation work of the Trust for Public Land (TPL), protecting Thoreau's Walden Pond, revitalizing urban gardens in Boston, adding 10,000 acres to New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest and creating the Good Life Center in Maine to honor and promote authors and activists Helen and Scott Nearing. In 1998, he became TPL's first National Fellow, devoting himself to research and writing; and in 2001 he founded TPL's Center for Land and People to help foster a new practice of land conservation that not only emphasizes habitat protection, but also strengthens the connections between people and land.

"Watching my childhood landscapes be forever changed while also witnessing how this changed my community has fostered in me a particularly strong social objective for land conservation," Forbes writes.

Forbes' photographs and writing have appeared in more than a dozen books and magazines, and he has given over 50 keynote addresses to conservation and historic preservation groups around the country. He is the editor of Our Land, Ourselves: Readings on People and Place and the author of The Great Remembering: Further Thoughts on Land, Soul and Society -- both available at these events and at North Wind Books, 601 Quincy Street in Hancock.

Forbes will also be at the Little Gem Theatre Saturday Music Series at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, to comment on his work and celebrate our people and land in music with featured folk musicians, John Perona, Michigan Heritage Award-winner, and the Finn Woods Ramblers.

Dedicated to playing ethnic music of the immigrant groups who settled in the Upper Peninsula, these musicians have a repertoire including Finnish, Italian, Swedish, Irish, German and Polish dance tunes. Along with Perona on bones, spoons, and concertina, the group includes Eleanor Mantila Taylor on accordion; Toni Tikkanen on guitar and vocals; Randy Seppala on bones and percussion; and Oren Tikkanen on mandolin, banjo, guitar and flute.

The Little Gem Theatre is at 7000 Calumet Street, Lake Linden. From the Houghton/Hancock area, take M26 north about 10 miles to Lake Linden. The theater is on the left in a renovated school building. Great food, desserts and coffee are served beginning at 6 p.m.

While in the area, Forbes will also share his experiences and insights with students at Hancock Middle School and with area business and planning leaders. He will be featured in an interview with Dick Storm on the "Copper Country Today" radio show airing at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17, on WCCY (1400 AM) and WHKB (102.3 FM).

Forbes' visit and area events are made by possible by funding from The Keweenaw National Historic Park, Finlandia University, Don Arkin, Sharon Emley and anonymous donors. For additional information, please contact Pat Toczydlowski at 337-0037 or visit the Keweenaw Land Trust website.

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