Costco to Host Book Signing for Local Eastern Michigan Authors

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - June 14, 2013 - PRLog -- Once a forbidding area of swamps and forests, Berkley was uninhabited until the early 19th century. In 1924, the Detroit News disparaged the "frontier community" and wrote that it "resembles a settlement in the oil waste of Wyoming." Two factions with competing ideas raced with paperwork to the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac; the triumphant group, desiring a small town, camped out overnight to be the first in line. Later incorporated as a city in 1932, Berkley's history includes the invention of the Benjamin Grain Cradle, the Ku Klux Klan parading through its streets, and the devastation of the fledgling community during the Great Depression. Through it all, Berkley continues to thrive and prides itself on being the "City That Cares."

Berkley
by James Jefferey Tong, Dr. Susan Richardson, Hon. Steve Baker
Images of America Series
128 pages/ softcover
 Published: May 6, 2013

When Oak Park became a city in 1945, the community was not much different from the village that was carved out of Royal Oak Township 18 years earlier. Its population had barely increased, and there was just one paved road connecting Oak Park to Detroit; however, big changes were coming. Thousands of veterans returned home after World War II, started families, and bought homes with the assistance of the GI Bill. By 1950, Oak Park was recognized as Detroit’s first northwest suburb. The residential character of the community was attractive to families, and in 1956 Oak Park was the nation’s fastest-growing city. By 1976, the city’s demographics were dramatically changing. In the 1980s, media stories focused on its extraordinary ethnic diversity within a population of 31,000. When the I-696 Freeway opened in 1990, what had once been a tiny rural village became the center of the region’s network of expressways.

Oak Park
by Hon. Gerald E. Naftaly, Foreword by Gov. James J. Blanchard
Images of America Series
128 pages/ softcover
Published: November 26, 2012

Join the Authors for a Book Signing!
Where:  Costco
30550 Stephenson Highway, Madison Heights MI 48071
When:  Saturday, June 15th, 2013; 12:00 —3:00 p.m.

"I am sending you this so you won't forget Pontiac." This is the sentiment inscribed on one of the postcards included in this collection. Pontiac, Michigan: A Postcard Album brings to life the history of this uniquely American city. The postcard has always been a very popular means of communication, and now as a historical document, it offers us a fascinating insight into the times and places of the past. Like many cities, Pontiac has passed through many phases, from agricultural center to auto manufacturer—through good times and bad. These postcards capture the people and places of Pontiac, and remind us of the courageous people who built this country.

Join the Author for a Book Signing!
Where: Costco
2343 South Telegraph Rd., Bloomfield MI 48302
When: Saturday, June 15th from 12:00-3:00 p.m.

Pontiac, Michigan: A Postcard Album
by Gottfried Brieger
Images of America Series
128 pages/ softcover
Published: July 15, 2000

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888)-313-2665.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.