This is a part of our winter Book Club conversation about Dan Egan’s book ‘The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.’ Want to participate? Sign up for our newsletter or record a voice message on the Science Friday VoxPop app.

To kick off this season’s Book Club, we decided to ask a question that almost anyone could answer: What is your favorite memory of the Great Lakes? Or, if you live far away, tell us about a body of water that’s meaningful to you instead—whether it’s a stream, pond, lake, river, or ocean. Here’s what you said.

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On the SciFri Book Club Facebook Group:

Becky McFadden: Even though I grew up near Pittsburgh and went to a small college between Pittsburgh and Erie, I had never been to any of the Great Lakes until my husband-to-be took me to visit his hometown Erie. Seeing Lake Erie the first time was shocking—it was huge! It had waves! It was freshwater! I fell in love with that lake! My husband was surprised about my lack of knowledge about the lake that he grew up with. Luckily, we live about an hour away, so Lake Erie has been a part of our family’s life and now we get to share it with our young grandchildren. One of my favorite things to do is sit beside the lake and read a book and just sit and look.

Canoeindy Eh: I grew up in Manitowoc on Lake Michigan’s western shore. Spent many hours at the beaches between Manitowoc and Two Rivers swimming and playing in the sand. The lake was our only air conditioner and you could feel the thermals as you got closer. After high school I worked as a deck hand for a couple of summers on the freighters S/S Medusa Challenger and S/S Nicolet seeing the rest of the Great Lakes miles from shore. I’ve got many fond memories of plying up and down the lakes.

You can join in on the conversation by joining the SciFri Book Club Facebook group, where we talk about the book all week long.

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