Friends of Leelanau Township Library Writers’ Series host Robert ‘Carlos’ Fuentes
From staff reports
Friends of Leelanau Township Library in Northport announce their final evening in the Writers’ Series Tuesday, July 28, at 7 pm. Just in time for the cherry harvest, Lansing author Robert ‘Carlos’ Fuentes will discuss his recent book, The Vacation: A Teenage Migrant Farmworker’s Experience Picking Cherries in Michigan.
The program, along with light refreshments, will be offered free to the public at The Willowbrook Mill, 201 N. Mill St. Northport, located in the heart of the Village. Books will be available for purchase. The Library of Michigan chose this book as a “Notable Book” for 2026. Local Dog Ears Books owner Pamela Grath, who nominated the book for the award, will engage Fuentes in conversation.
The memoir provides insight into family bonds, first love, race relations, and the dignity of hard work among migrant farm worker communities. Fuentes, a retired Michigan State University (MSU) intercultural initiatives coordinator and U.S. Army veteran, highlights the symbolic role cherries played in his life. In his 22-year career in student services, Fuentes promoted global learning and helped launch MSU’s International Engagement in Mexico program.
Fuentes’s family participated in the cherry harvest for many years before the cherry shaker machines displaced the farm workers who hand-picked fruit. His memoir focuses on the summer of 1969 “vacation,” as his parents called their trip to Leelanau County, when they joined relatives and friends to camp out around the local orchards. The teenager loved both the beaches and barbeques as well as the hard work. He has never forgotten the experiences, including many hours spent on the Theodore Esch Farm in East Leland. The Leelanau Enterprise and Tribune featured his aunt and grandfather among the over 5,000 itinerant workers in Michigan in an article in the paper July 23, 1953.
The Glen Arbor Sun featured an excerpt of Fuentes’ book last year.
July is officially recognized as Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Appreciation Month in Michigan, honoring the crucial contributions of agricultural workers to our food supply and economy. This acknowledgement coincides with the peak harvest season for crops like cherries and berries. Friends of the Library is pleased to recognize Fuentes and all farm workers.
