My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!)
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wcwcw.com/feature83.htm
loc.gov/resource/wpalh3.38160207
And there’s way more at my website (alisondecamp.com)!
IMAGE CREDITS
Archive.org
8.Title, 33.3 (bottom right)
Author’s personal collection
1.Title, 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 2.Title, 2.4, 2.6, 3.Title, 4.Title, 4.3, 5.Title, 5.1, 5.6 (left), 6.1, 6.3, 7.6 (left), 9.3, 11.Title, 12.Title, 12.2, 13.1, 15.Title, 16.1, 18.6, 18.7, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 19.5, 20.3, 20.6, 20.8, 21.Title, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 23.Title, 24.Title, 24.1, 24.4, 25.Title, 25.1, 27.1, 27.4, 27.5, 28.Title, 28.2 (left), 28.6, 29.Title, 30.Title, 30.2, 30.3, 32.1, 32.2, 33.1, 33.3 (top and bottom left), 33.6, Note.1
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library
17.1 (left)
Biodiversity Heritage Library
2.8
Boston Public Library
4.4, 5.3, 11.5, 14.2, 14.3, 20.1, 20.7, 21.1, 21.5, 21.6, 24.3, 27.2, 27.3, 28.2 (right), 28.3, 28.5, 29.3, 31.3, 31.6, 32.3
British Library
5.6 (right), 26.Title
Collection of Tom Graham
11.6, 24.2, 31.5
General public domain
2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.5, 6.7, 7.1, 7.4, 7.8, 8.1, 8.2, 10.Title, 10.2, 10.3, 12.1, 13.2, 15.3, 16.Title, 22.Title, 23.1, 25.2, 28.4
The Globe, December 20, 1890
7.Title
Grand Marais, Michigan, Historical Society
4.2
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
2.2
Library of Congress
3.1, 3.3, 4.1, 4.5, 5.2, 5.4, 5.10, 6.Title, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 7.2, 7.6 (right), 7.7, 8.3, 8.4, 9.Title, 9.1, 9.2, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 13.Title, 13.3, 13.4, 14.Title, 14.1, 15.1, 15.2, 15.4, 16.2, 17.Title (right), 17.1 (right), 17.2, 17.3, 18.Title, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 18.6, 19.Title, 19.1, 19.6, 20.Title, 20.2, 20.4, 20.5, 21.7, 22.1, 26.1, 26.2, 26.4, 27.Title, 28.7, 29.1, 30.1, 31.Title, 31.1, 31.2, 31.4, 31.7, 32.Title, 32.4, 32.5, 33.Title, 33.4
National Archives
10.4
National Library of Medicine
1.3, 3.2, 11.4
Schoolcraft County Historical Society, Manistique, Michigan
10.1
Topley Studio, Library and Archives Canada
7.3
This is my great-grandmother Cora. Apparently she loved babies and cats, and my mother loved her. But I think she looks crabby. She made my grandmother Alice get married at fifteen, which is exactly what someone that crabby would do. At sixteen, Alice had my uncle Stan, but since his father didn’t stay in the picture for long, Alice and Cora took the baby Stan to a lumber camp to work for the winter. Eventually Alice married my grandfather, Ray McLachlan. He was not stinky, but according to my sister who remembers him, he was twinkly. I never knew any of these people, but the lore handed down through my family contributed to this story of Stan.
Guess who else kept a scrapbook? My great-grandmother. She filled it with ads and magazine covers and clippings from newspapers. I pored over it when I was young, I have it with me in my office now, and it inspired me to create Stan’s book filled with quirky finds and comments.
Like Stan, I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where people say “Yah, eh?” and “Youse guys” and dress in many layers for seven months of the year. Unlike Stan, I had indoor plumbing and more than two pairs of pants. However, I might have worn the same sweater every day in fifth grade.
I’m the daughter of a hardware store owner (and reluctant occasional employee), and I spent too many school breaks attending Ace Hardware conventions and not enough at Disney World. After graduating from Michigan State University, I began teaching middle and high school English, where I dealt with students chewing tobacco during one of my amazing lessons, as well as a principal whose priority was fashion sense.
I admire teachers greatly.
After eight years, I quit teaching to stay at home with two babies who are now two teenagers. Babies and teenagers require almost the same amount of work. During this time, I taught myself to make glass beads and jewelry, which I sold at local galleries. When I’m not writing my next novel, I can occasionally be found “working” at Between the Covers bookstore in Harbor Springs or grocery shopping. My people like to eat.
For more information about My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!) and the author, visit alisondecamp.com.
© Erin Summerill
Like Stan, Alison DeCamp grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Unlike Stan, Alison had indoor plumbing and more than two pairs of pants. Her family history consists of stories of life in lumber camps and old scrapbooks.
Lots of real people from Alison’s history make appearances in this tale of young Stanley Slater. Most of them are made up. But Alison says, “Aren’t stories great? Listen to them, because someday you might want to write a book.”
A graduate of Michigan State University, Alison is a former middle and high school language arts teacher. She now works at Between the Covers, a bookstore in Harbor Springs, Michigan, and spends the rest of her time with her husband and teenage children. My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!) is her first novel. You can find Alison online at alisondecamp.com.