AGATE BOOK REVIEW

You need not be a pharologist to appreciate Jim Lammers’ latest book, but it might just entice you to become one. A pharologist, as defined by the United States Lighthouse Society, is one who studies or is interested in lighthouses. Evidently, there are many of them out there; the U.S. Lighthouse Society alone has some 10,000 members, while the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association boasts 1,0000.

Light signaling for navigation purposes has been a serious business throughout history, with human lives and commerce reliant on its effectiveness. But both working and decommissioned lighthouses have an enigmatic quality that makes them beloved landmarks in their coastline settings, with a value far beyond that of guiding sailors safely to port. Here in the inland freshwater seas of the Great Lakes, they connect us—literally and figuratively—to a rich maritime culture. Plus, they’re just cool.

Lighthouses of the Great Lakes: An Architect’s Sketchbook was published in fall of 2024 by Oro Editions, known for its illustrated books specializing in architecture, landscape and art photography.

The “architect” reference in the book’s subtitle might lead you to expect a book of technical drawings. It’s true that there are illustrations of light sources and lenses, building materials and some of the finer points of design and construction. Readers are introduced to features that make a lighthouse visible by day as well as by night. But this is far from a dry, technical treatise on lighthouse technology. As Lammers explains in the Author’s Note, “The color sketches are whimsical impressions of what is captured in the moment. They’re not detailed like a photo—they come from the heart.”

While many a photographer has grabbed their gear and headed for the nearest lighthouse when the moon is full, Jim Lammers has instead made his way around the lakes in daylight, with sketchpad and pencils in hand. The result is part art, part science, part history, part slow-rolling adventure with a good companion.

The book is organized by lake, with maps showing locations of lighthouses visited by the author. Lammers shares his conversations and interactions with locals about everything from lighthouse history to tips on food and lodging, even where to find a good martini.

Along the way, the reader is introduced to the various lighthouse styles (including but not limited to cottage, polygonal, pyramidal, drum, Poe, church or schoolhouse, spider and coffeepot styles). We also get a feel for the physical realities of the landscape and a taste of history. Of Lake Superior’s Split Rock Lighthouse, he writes:

“The coastline is treacherous, and because of the huge deposits of iron ore, compass readings are not reliable. … The North Shore had no highway in the early 1900s—all materials arrived by water and were hoisted into place with a derrick and hoisting engine. In addition to the tower, the light station included a fog signal house, oil storage building, three keepers’ houses, and a boathouse down at the lakeshore. All this was completed in less than a year, and a third order clam shell Fresnel lens was lit in 1910.”

A section on fog signals includes cannons, bells, and fog trumpets powered by compressed air. “The air was pumped into a holding tank either manually or by horsepower—a horse walking in circles,” writes Lammers. Fortunately for the horses, the technology moved on to steam whistles, sirens and horns.

This is also a story about people. We meet keepers and learn about the essential role played by “tenders.” Tenders are the small vessels and their crews that sailed the Great Lakes, towing lightships to their stations, replenishing depots, and providing seasonal transportation for keepers and their families. They were also involved in search and rescue operations.

If Lammers wore glasses on his travels around the Great Lakes, they weren’t rose-colored. The book includes a succinct section titled Lake Threats, which touches on subjects such as the burning Cuyahoga River, the role of the Welland Canal in granting the sea lamprey’s access from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and beyond; the impacts of oil spills on freshwater systems; strip-mining of sand dunes; and algae blooms. Improvements have come about thanks to public uprisings and the collective impacts of the Clean Water Act, the Canada Water Act and Great Lakes Quality Agreement, which set standards and penalties for polluters. But these efforts don’t let the rest of us off the hook, says Lammers, acknowledging that, “We are the guardians of the Great Lakes.”

It’s a sign of an interesting book when the people singing its praises cite different reasons to sing. Pharologist Magnus Reitz suggests that the narratives of the artist/author can be read as poetry. Pilot and historian Wayne Sapulski revels in the wealth of information on maritime heritage.

For purposes of this review, Agate invited Minnesota author/editor and “Macaroni” blogger John Toren to weigh in on the book.

He kindly agreed. A self-described fan of the Western Great Lakes and typical curious traveler, Toren says he is not a lighthouse aficionado, but found much to like on his scroll through the book. “The typology of the various architectural elements that can be found in a lighthouse is wonderful; also the little section devoted to the ships and the shipwrecks. Excerpts from journals of lighthouse keepers capture the flavor of that rugged and often solitary way of life,” says Toren. He continues: “The color sketches are appealing, fresh and loose. I think the map of the Straits of Mackinac is especially interesting, and I like the historical elements, including references to lighthouses that no longer exist. Everyone has heard of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; Lammers tells us who Edmund Fitzgerald the man was. Alongside the technical and historical details, the author gives us a running text describing his own visits to the structures, adding personal information that might be out of place in a scholarly text, but are welcome here, such as; The next morning I drove to Knife River and breakfasted with Laura—daughter of Vernon Stone my favorite professor at Iowa State—and her husband Ode Odenwald. In short,” says Toren, “an ideal volume to accompany any trip to the shores of the Great Lakes.”

If you do decide to hit the road with Lammers’ book to explore some of the more than 200 lighthouses on the Great Lakes, heads up—they’re often said to be haunted. You can make up your own mind on that when you return. One thing’s for sure, while each lighthouse is unique, they are all full of stories.

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Lighthouses of the Great Lakes: An Architect’s Sketchbook is available from your local independent bookseller and may also be ordered from the author’s website.