{"product_id":"thin-ice-coming-of-age-in-grand-rapids-265116","title":"Thin Ice: Coming of Age in Grand Rapids","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eDESCRIPTION\u003c\/strong\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This unique volume contains twenty-eight fascinating life stories of people -- many of whom went on to become famous -- who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e The coming-of-age stories in *Thin Ice* relate a range of experiences both good and bad, including happy memories and heartwarming recollections but also personal traumas, intergenerational and racial conflicts, the strictures of religious belief and practice, the joys and sorrows of young romance, and more. Above and beyond the stories of the more notable personalities -- Jim Harrison, Roger Wilkins, John Hockenberry, President Gerald Ford, Betty Ford, Al Green, Paul Schrader, William Brashler -- the book as a whole is chock-full of crisp, humorous, irreverent, and moving writing.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e Reinder Van Til and Gordon Olson have excerpted half of the pieces from previous publications, while they directly solicited the other half from active writers specifically for this book. The earliest stories go back to the 1830s and 1850s, and the most recent are a cluster of contemporary pieces that describe coming of age in the Grand Rapids of the 1960s through the 1980s. Together they paint a multifaceted, impressionistic portrait of a century and a half in the fair city of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e All in all, *Thin Ice* is a nostalgic treasure for any Grand Rapidian and literary treasure for e v e r y one.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eContributors\u003c\/strong\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Albert Baxter  \u003cbr\u003e Charles E. Belknap  \u003cbr\u003e A. J. Muste  \u003cbr\u003e Arnold Gingrich  \u003cbr\u003e David Cornel DeJong  \u003cbr\u003e Gerald R. Ford  \u003cbr\u003e Betty Ford  \u003cbr\u003e Edward V. Gillis  \u003cbr\u003e John Thompson  \u003cbr\u003e Roger Wilkins  \u003cbr\u003e Jim Harrison  \u003cbr\u003e Glen Peterson  \u003cbr\u003e Max Apple  \u003cbr\u003e John Otterbacher  \u003cbr\u003e Reinder Van Til  \u003cbr\u003e Al Green  \u003cbr\u003e Paul Schrader  \u003cbr\u003e Robert VanderMolen  \u003cbr\u003e William Brashler  \u003cbr\u003e Sheri Venema  \u003cbr\u003e Hank Meijer  \u003cbr\u003e Charles Honey  \u003cbr\u003e Tom Rademacher  \u003cbr\u003e Levi Rickert  \u003cbr\u003e John Hockenberry  \u003cbr\u003e Laura Kasischke  \u003cbr\u003e Kaye Longberg  \u003cbr\u003e Bich Minh Nguyen","brand":"Koorong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51565126648095,"sku":"9780802824783","price":81.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/8981\/8143\/files\/9780802824783_111966.jpg?v=1769219366","url":"https:\/\/koorong.com\/products\/thin-ice-coming-of-age-in-grand-rapids-265116","provider":"Koorong","version":"1.0","type":"link"}