June 11, 2003
Book explores last wild places
'Look About You' merges fairy magic with environment realities of today
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
If you seek an unusual, engaging and visually lush book, no need to look farther than "Look About You: A Magical Childhood in Michigan's Wild Places."
A collaboration between artist Mary Fuscaldo of Lake Leelanau and author Erin Anderson of Traverse City, "Look About You" merges environmental realities with fairy magic. Released last July, the book features a growing girl and her father exploring some natural areas in the region, ranging from Skegemog Swamp to the Magic Carpet in Northport to Deadstream Swamp. Each of Fuscaldo's magical pastel illustrations contains a hidden fairy or spirit, signifying the magic of the place.
Fuscaldo and Anderson discussed their creative collaboration and the self-publishing journey Thursday evening at the Traverse Area District library. Part of the Live! at the Library Series, the event drew ten attendees.
Anderson is a native of Whitewater Township and a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy. Dedicating the book to her father, Whitewater Township Planning Commission chair Joe Anderson, she said the roots of her environmental consciousness come from his life and vision. However, she noted that the book is not autobiographical.
"The book is about memories of childhood, definitely reflecting on what this girl's father has taught her about the outdoors and keeping the magic in our lives," said Anderson, who received a degree from Sarah Lawrence College and recently returned to the area.
Anderson started the book while a senior in college. She wrote it while living in New York where, after graduation, she worked for Penguin Putnam books. She often returned home to tramp through the woods and swamps with Fuscaldo, taking copious notes while Fuscaldo snapped pictures. Later they shared their work over the Internet, zapping scanned images and text files back and forth.
"We just totally collaborated on the book, talked about it all the time," said Fuscaldo, who met Anderson through mutual friends and said the two just 'clicked.' "The book just kind of evolved into what it is, where the fairies are really incidental now. The book isn't about fairies it is about relationships."
Not only the relationship of a father and daughter but the relationship between humans and the natural world and magic.
Both Anderson and Fuscaldo, an area artist, hope the book sparks debate about development in the area. They are donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book to the Leelanau Conservancy, the Little Traverse Conservancy and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.
"I'd been living in New York for six years and coming back here to visit really highlighted for me how things were developing and changing," Anderson said. "So we really wanted to weave that into the book, that these were wonderful places but we have to protect them."
Their focus shifted from a lighthearted children's fairy book to more serious themes the day they visited the Magic Carpet area near Northport. As they explored this hushed forest, they could hear the bulldozers grinding in the distance. A developer had just purchased the land and divided it into lots; both felt sick thinking of its future.
"That was the day we changed our whole focus," recalled Fuscaldo, noting her illustration for this section does not have a fairy; instead an ephemeral drawing of a Native American is disappearing behind a tree. "We could hear the bulldozers over the quiet and that really exemplified the whole thing."
Once the text and illustrations were done, the pair said the hardest part was finding a title. A friend's suggestion of "Look About You" fit perfectly and they began shopping their creation to publishers. Without having a definite niche - part children's book, part adult environmental plea - no one was interested without requiring major changes.
Unwilling to gut their message, they decided to self publish. Assisted by Fuscaldo's husband, Jim, a retired lawyer, it was finally out in stores for last summer's tourist season.
"My husband and I published it ourselves, we could see another summer coming and it was not getting out," said Fuscaldo of the book, which is now in its second printing.