Technically it was a minor league, but for hockey fans west of the Mississippi, the Western Hockey League provided major-league entertainment for over 25 years.The WHL was a determined and ambitious professional league, with some 22 teams based in major American and Canadian cities. Known as the Pacific Coast Hockey League prior to 1952, the WHL aspired to establish itself as North America's second major league, a western counterpart to the early eastern Canada-based National Hocke...

Paddling a canoe into sunrise on the longest day of the year... watching a child take her first kayak ride with her father... gazing at a bald eagle, riding air currents high above the lake... chuckling as a hummingbird defends his feeder against intruders... dodging campfire smoke while burning marshmallows and telling scary stories to wide-eyed kids. These are some of the moments and memories depicted in Summers at the Lake. The essays-often humorous; sometimes tinged with a swe...

The excitement of arriving at the Little Cabin in the Big Woods in late spring... the joy of greeting old friends--people, birds, and forest animals... listening to bird calls to tell the time of day and spotting different flowers to mark the progress of the seasons... visits to favorite out-of-the-way spots... the first harvest of blueberries and the aroma of the first batch of fresh out of the oven muffins. Wild Blueberry Summer celebrates these memories and moments. Every summe...

Follow Yooper Ale Trails to visit the 29 unique craft breweries and brewpubs of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Choose from among eight different Ale Trails for your personal journey. Explore the backstories of the breweries, brewers and owners, along with tasting notes on each brewery's most popular beers. Jon C. Stott, award-winning author of five beer travel books, provides expert guidance for both craft beer aficionados and tourists to enjoy one of 170 locally-brewed lagers or ale...

Brewing in New Mexico began in the 1850s when small breweries serviced short-lived boomtowns teeming with early settlers thirsty for brew. By the time Prohibition came in 1918, New Mexico breweries were completely tapped out. It wasn't until 1988, when the Santa Fe Brewing Company began slaking local thirsts, that beer was again brewed in New Mexico. By the late 1990s, New Mexico was experiencing a resurgence in local brewing. Today, the state boasts a craft brewing renaissance. New Mexica...

"Gathers the oral traditions of the loggers who settled Michigan's Upper Peninsula . . . Stott preserves the tall tales for generations to come." — Grandpa Shorter's, "Seven Michigan Authors to Put in Your Beach Bag This Summer"The loggers who settled Michigan's Upper Peninsula whiled away winter evenings with tales of extreme weather, strange geography, legendary beasts and improbable feats. One mythic figure strode confidently from one story to the next,...

For centuries, people around the world have been telling stories about tricksters—characters who solve problems by using their wits to fool others. Sometimes, these tricksters want to help people. Other times, they use their cleverness for selfish reasons. Occasionally, they aren’t as clever as they think and are tricked themselves. Although trickster tales from different countries are similar in many ways, story details, problems to be solved and the personalities of characters reflect th...

During the 1980s, the geography of minor-league professional hockey changed radically, moving from its roots in the Canadian Maritime provinces, New England and the Midwestern states into the American south. In addition to cities like Dallas, Charlotte, Norfolk and Oklahoma City, which had long traditions of minor-league hockey, unlikely places such as Biloxi, Baton Rouge, Little Rock and Augusta hosted teams. Over an 18-year period, minor-league hockey was played in 72 different southern ...

Winner of a 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook Award in CanadaHopheads, rejoice! Take the ultimate beer-lover’s road trip from Victoria, BC’s craft beer capital, to Tofino and Campbell River, visiting craft breweries and brewpubs in between. Your guide? Jon Stott, born and bred in Victoria—and beer enthusiast extraordinaire.In 1961, Vancouver Island had just one brewery. In 2018, Stott visited thirty-three breweries on the island—and three more breweries were sla...

It’s no secret that Canadians love beer, and in the western provinces, the large number of successful microbreweries continues to prove that distinct beer—high-quality beer—is important to our national pint-lovers. Beer Quest West is for homebrewers and beer aficionados alike: this is your guide to the best of the west.Alberta and British Columbia are host to over seventy microbreweries, and that number is increasing every year. In this comprehensive field guide, each brew...

During 75 seasons of baseball (1946-2020), 71 teams in 21 minor leagues represented 35 Canadian cities, playing either under the aegis of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (called Minor League Baseball since 1999) or independently. Sixteen teams operated for less than a year, including the eight teams of the Canadian Baseball League of 2003. Another 14 lasted three seasons or less. Seven have played continuously for 20 years or more, among them the Winnipeg Goldeyes...

Oregon and Washington have been leaders in the craft beer boom that began in the 1980s. The number of craft breweries and brewpubs in the U.S. has increased dramatically in recent years--almost 4700 were doing business as of mid-2016. Much of this growth has taken place in the metropolitan areas of Portland and Seattle and in sizable cities like Eugene, Salem, Spokane and Tacoma. Yet many breweries have opened in villages and small towns. The author visits more than three dozen in this exp...