Leland Library features Elemental readers, WWII author

From staff reports

On Monday, July 29 at 6 pm, Leelanau County local Anne-Marie Oomen and several other contributors to the Michigan Notable Book, Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction, will read their essays aloud and sign copies of the anthology at Leland Township Library. The book includes essays from 23 of our state’s most well-known writers, including Oomen, who also won a Michigan Notable Book award for her book The Lake Michigan Mermaid: A Tale in Poemsthis year.

On Wednesday, July 31 at 2 pm, summer resident and author Dennis Turner will visit Leland Township Library to discuss his book, What Did You Do in the War, Sister?: How Catholic Nuns in Belgium Defied and Deceived the Nazis in WWII. Turner’s book is a fictional memoir based on actual events and was inspired by hundreds of letters and other accounts written by Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who were living in German-occupied Belgium and Italy during World War Two. “It’s a book about good people doing brave things at a very dangerous time in our history,” Turner said in his introduction to the book.

Turner, who splits his time between Ohio and Leelanau County, graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in History. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1970. Since 1974, he has been a Professor of Law at the University of Dayton School of Law. During his tenure at the University of Dayton he has served as Assistant Dean, Acting Dean, Director of the Law Clinic and Director of the Legal Profession Program. The University of Dayton has awarded him its highest award for teaching, The Faculty Teaching Award. This is Turner’s first fictional book. 

There is no cost to attend these programs, which will take place in the Munnecke Room at the library. For more information, call 231-256-9152 (Library) or visit LelandLibrary.org.