Review of LaBlance Fish Tales Two

[Nichol Lee Jackson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "LaBlance Fish Tales Two" by Peter F LaBlance.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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LaBlance Fish Tales Two is an amazing non-fiction, historical biography of a family lineage of commercial fishermen in Charlevoix, Michigan. Written in their own words, the brothers and sisters includes their memories and the stories passed down from their parents and grandparents. It is intended for young adult to mature adult audiences. There are only a couple of instances of very mild profanity. The style of wording is taken from the late 1800's to the late 1900's. Since it is written in their own words, it is unnecessary to correct the typos and grammatical errors.
Although it is a short book, it is an adventurous, condensed collection of the LaBlance family's hard life of commercial fishing in the Great Lakes region. Their encounters with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources compels them to form hard opinions about sportsmens' clubs who leverage out the commercial fisheries in all of the ports and harbors. Centuries of historical knowledge disappears in a matter of decades. Photographs of their fishing boats, nets and tools, along with entire families married into this close-knit fishing community, detail their migration into both Canadian and U.S. shores. It inspires more interest in a lost art.
I gave this book four stars out of five stars. It is an interesting subject and the personal touch is eye-opening. If anything could be better, it would be the need for more comparative histories of other families, from anywhere in the world, to study the rise and fall of manual labor. Small crews of fishermen were expected to navigate the waterways and feed the masses, while being ridiculed or socially ostracized. It is alarming that workers on a global scale are choked out of their occupations, replaced by machines and plumbing. The opportunity to learn trades are fading fast, but, hopefully, the opportunity to read about them is increasing.

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LaBlance Fish Tales Two
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