U.P. Colony

In the 1980s the author headed north and attended Lake Superior State University at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. As a student he was struck by the differences between the sister cities on either side of the St. Mary's River. The American Soo was clearly in decline while the Canadian Soo prospered. The question why turned into a master's thesis that grew to include an examination of the economic woes of Michigan's U.P. This short book includes the original thesis and a 20-year update of the manuscript. For a book of only 70 pages, it is filled with eye-opening facts that clearly show that the U.P. was treated as if it was no better than a colony in which the colonizing country systematically exploited its enormous wealth then left it one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the country. --Tom Powers, Michigan in Books There are many people who will benefit from reading this book: academic readers and researchers; nonfiction writers working on similar themes; and more creative authors who want to get the facts straight, whatever their projects. The extensive bibliography will be helpful to many of these readers, too. UP Colony is a fairly quick read and easy to follow with its typical academic format of stating a premise/theory, organizing the points of the argument, supporting that argument with facts and statistics, and finally drawing a conclusion. -- Deborah K. Frontiera, U.P. Book Review Bellfy's deft rural sociological analysis cuts through centuries of whitewashing and exploitation with a single stroke -- Victor R. Volkman, Marquette Monthly.