Michigan
Great Michigan Read authors coming to East Lansing next week – City Pulse
Seven prestigious writers, including a National Book Award winner, will gather in East Lansing next week for an author reunion of the Great Michigan Read program, which has annually picked a book for the whole state to read starting with Ernest Hemingway’s “The Nick Adams Stories” in 2007.
I will moderate the Michigan Humanities event at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts’ Pasant Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24. It’s free but requires registration. (See box.)
The authors and their books are Bich Minh Nguyen (“Stealing Buddha’s Dinner: A Memoir”); Kevin Boyle (“Arc of Justice,” which won the 2004 National Book Award for nonfiction); Steve Luxenberg (“Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret”); Mary Doria Russell (“The Women of the Copper Country”); co-author Kekla Magoon (“X: A Novel”); Mona Hanna (“What the Eyes Don’t See”); and Angeline Boulley (“Firekeeper’s Daughter”).
Each of them brings a different orientation to their award-winning books, from a doctor, a journalist, a young adult author, a Vietnam War boat person, a history professor, an indigenous Sault Tribe member and an historical fiction writer.
Six of their books are based on real-life stories. The exception is Boulley’s thriller mystery, which draws from her personal experiences of reservation living as a member of the Sault Tribe of Sault Ste. Marie.
Nguyen tells the intimate story of an immigrant family from Vietnam that escapes the ravages of war and grows up in the Grand Rapids area.
Russell, a noted sci-fi and historical fiction author, writes passionately about “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc, who at 25 led the 1913 copper strike in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
In another memoir, Luxenberg tells the emotional story of another immigrant family, this time in Detroit. His account reveals a deeply held family secret of mental illness and special needs.
In an unusual departure, Magoon, who partnered with Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcom X’s daughter, gives a creative nonfiction interpretation of X’s life as he comes of age in Lansing, Harlem and Boston.
In her startling debut novel, Boulley creates a complex teenage protagonist who gets caught up in a murder that takes place against the backdrop of Indigenous life in the heart of Michigan’s Indian country.
Two writers, Boyle and Hanna, delve into true-life tales that read like fictional thrillers.
Boyle drops back in history to mid-1920s Detroit and retells the dramatic story of Ossian Sweet, a physician who was tried with 10 other African Americans for the murder of a white man who had joined a mob protesting Sweet’s crossing the color line to live in an all-white neighborhood. The story is told against the backdrop of the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration and a family’s desire to join the American dream of home ownership. Boyle’s deft skills are at work here, and the outcome of the trial is never a given as it comes to a dramatic denouement led by defense lawyer Clarence Darrow.
Hanna’s contemporary memoir is a day-by-day retelling of the Flint Water Crisis and the lead poisoning of the children of Flint in 2019. Hannah, a young pediatrician, became a crusader in bringing the nation’s attention to this horrific contemporary disaster, all the while standing up to the medical political establishment.
The next Great Michigan Read book will be announced at the program’s end. Michigan Humanities is a statewide organization headquartered in Okemos that is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. It is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“I have been impressed how timeless these books are and how people relate to the books on a personal level,” Jennifer Rupp, Michigan Humanities’ president and CEO, said. “Since the launch of Great Michigan Read, more than 300,000 people have read or listened to the books on audio.”
For each book, Michigan Humanities prepares a reader’s guide to help lead to “deeper conversations,” Rupp said.
Regional committees propose and review books leading to the selection. The books then become the focal point for book club discussion groups, with author appearances across the state.
“It’s been amazing to see standing room only at author events,” Rupp said.
Michigan
Ex-Michigan running back fractures forearm in Rams’ regular-season finale
Sunday was supposed to be rookie Blake Corum’s chance to step into a featured role in the Los Angeles Rams backfield.
But the former Michigan running back didn’t get much of an opportunity, suffering a fractured forearm in the second quarter of a 30-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed the injury after the game.
“He’s a tough, resilient guy,” McVay said. “He’s going to be a really good player for us for a long time, but he will miss the postseason.”
With the Rams having already clinched the NFC West crown entering Sunday, they rested No. 1 running back Kyren Williams, paving the way for Corum to handle a larger workload in the team’s regular-season finale.
Michigan’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader received just two carries for 10 yards and one catch for 12 yards before exiting. The 2024 third-round pick was on the sideline in the second half wearing a sling, finishing the year with 58 carries for 207 yards and seven receptions for 58 yards.
The Rams will host the loser of the Lions and Vikings’ Sunday night matchup in next week’s Wild Card round.
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
Michigan
Five Key Plays: Michigan 85, USC 74 | UM Hoops.com
Michigan knocked off USC in Los Angeles on Saturday night to move to 3-0 in the Big Ten. It was a game of runs, with Michigan stringing together three different 10-0 kill shots, but USC never went away. The Trojans consistently battled back into the game all night, forcing Michigan to execute down the stretch.
Here are Five Key Plays from the win featuring Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Tre Donaldson, Roddy Gayle Jr., and more.
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1. First half 3-point barrage
Michigan was on fire from 3-point range in its final two home games of the year and carried that momentum into the Galen Center. On Saturday night, the Wolverines got off to a terrific shooting start, knocking down their first five 3-pointers and finishing with ten made threes in the opening half.
The Wolverines have been a volatile 3-point shooting team all year. They’ve hit double-digit threes in eight of 14 games but shot worse than 30% from three in five games. They shoot 36.6% from three (54th nationally) as a team but have shot better than 40% or worse than 30% in 12 of 14 contests.
In 28 halves of basketball, Michigan has hit seven or more threes nine times (32%). They’ve also hit two or fewer threes in 10 of those 28 halves (36%) — including last night’s 0-of-8 second-half performance.
Michigan’s half-by-half perimeter shooting splits are becoming a trend to watch closely. The Wolverines shoot 40.8% from three in first halves (5.9 for 14.4 attempts) compared to 31.2% in second halves (3.5 of 11.2 attempts).
Michigan survived 0-of-8 3-point shooting to win last night, but it is 5-of-36 (14%) from 3-point range in the second halves of its three losses — a particularly painful stat given that those defeats came by five points total.
Michigan
Michigan WR Peyton O'Leary will return for 2025 season: 'Last year incoming'
Michigan Wolverines football senior wide receiver Peyton O’Leary will return for his fifth season at U-M, he announced on social media Saturday. O’Leary has one year of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-3, 203-pounder joined senior quarterback Davis Warren in announcing his return for the 2025 season on the same day. Warren and O’Leary are housemates and close friends.
O’Leary and Warren are both former walk-ons who earned scholarships.
“It was a dream come true. It was so great,” O’Leary said in 2023 of being put on scholarship.
The Byfield, Mass., native played a key role on the Michigan offense this season, logging the second-most offensive snaps among wide receivers (376), behind only Tyler Morris (464), who has transferred to Indiana.
O’Leary caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown in 13 games this season. He was targeted 14 times.
The highlights of his season were a touchdown catch on third down in a loss to Oregon Nov. 2 and an impressive third-down grab in a 13-10 win over Ohio State in Columbus Nov. 30.
Tied 10-10, Michigan drove all the way to the Ohio State 3-yard line, before Warren threw an interception in the end zone.
Devastating, but not a deathblow. Michigan’s drive that Warren and O’Leary kept alive still chewed a whopping 9:10 off the clock. The Wolverines dominated time of possession, keeping the football for 13:03 of the 15 minutes in the fourth quarter, sealing the 13-10 win with a game-winning field goal by junior kicker Dominic Zvada.
Weeks later, Warren and O’Leary can laugh about all of it.
“We’ve watched it a couple times — a handful,” Warren said of he and his housemates, including O’Leary. “It always shows up on the YouTube and stuff, so it’s there.
“But can’t pump his tires up too much. Gotta keep him grounded. He’s kinda a pain to be around if he gets too confident.”
Warren and O’Leary have a special connection. Both came in as walk-ons and developed incredible chemistry while on scout team. That became apparent as the two worked their way up the depth chart, starting with the 2023 spring game, when Warren found O’Leary for the game-winning two-point conversion.
“Love him to death, and that was a huge catch when we needed it,” Warren said of the play against Ohio State, in a more serious tone. “I remember the first time me and him were throwing together on the field out there the summer my freshman year, and [tight ends] Coach [Steve] Casula, who recruited us, was kinda watching off to the side.
“To think that it would progress to us being in The ‘Shoe trying to get a win like that, it was a special thing and a testament to him to all the work he’s put in to get better.
“Hitting the celebration after was a nice touch.”
O’Leary was a deep reserve before the 2024 season. He had appeared in 14 games at wide receiver from 2022-23, hauling in 3 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. His score in the 2023 campaign came in a win at Nebraska and was thrown by Jayden Denegal, who transferred to San Diego State this offseason.
O’Leary was originally signed to play lacrosse at UMass
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