New Book Explores the Heart of the Two Hearted River

What do former FLOW board member Bob Otwell and Ernest Hemingway have in common?

They’ve both written about the Two Hearted River.

In a story published exactly one century ago, The Big Two-Hearted River, Hemingway brought to a wide audience for the first time an unmatched writing style, in this case focusing on the healing journey of a man fishing in the Two Hearted.

In The Real Two Hearted: Life, Love and Lore Along Michigan’s Most Iconic River, Bob Otwell writes of discovering and then making his family at home in a rustic cabin on the banks of the Two Hearted. The word “real” in the title refers to the fact that while Hemingway used the name “Two-Hearted” in the title of his story, he was actually describing the Fox River.

Bob’s book explores the history and the mystery of the actual Two Hearted, which occupies a virtually unblemished watershed in the Upper Peninsula.

In addition to serving on FLOW’s board, Bob founded engineering firm Otwell Mawby P.C., and was executive director of TART Trails, Inc., from 2001-2010 where he was responsible for daily administration, board development, fundraising, strategic planning, and public relations for the not-for-profit bike and pedestrian advocacy organization.

We asked Bob a couple of questions about his book, whose official publishing date is July 18, 2024.

Tell us what the book is about. Is it a recreational read, or a serious environmental policy discussion?

I would say this is a recreational read. The reader may enjoy our family adventures, spending time in a remote camp with no electricity, running water, and no cell service. Hopefully, the reader will appreciate how we spent much of our time just doing the “Boggy’s thing,” which is just putzing around the camp, and being unconnected to the modern world. The reader should also learn something about a variety of topics including the physics of flowing rivers, how this watershed has been protected, and the unique flora and fauna.

What did you find out about the Two Hearted as you went along?

I really enjoyed doing the research for the book. I learned so much about life in the U.P. over the past 100 years. We have enjoyed the old growth white pines surrounding Boggy’s, and I enjoyed reading several books that taught me a little about the value of trees beyond fire wood and lumber. It was hard to know how far to go with some of this research, because there is always more to learn and write about. I enjoyed going back through the three volumes and 30 plus years of our Boggy’s Camp Journals, remembering family adventures, and which friends and family have visited the camp. I appreciate very much that I had these journals to refer to.

If the Two Hearted was a person, what would she be like?

Most of all she would be steady. Whenever we visit, she is flowing steadily, water coming around the bend upstream of Boggy’s Camp and disappearing around the next one downstream. Her mood changes based on weather and flora. She is normally shallow and dark, her color and reflections varying with the sun and time of day. She is flanked by color depending on the location and season: tan from exposed sand banks; green from many evergreens, along with maples, dogwood and alders in the summer; red, orange and yellow maple leaves in autumn and red dogwood branches that pop out when the leaves are absent. She is often flanked by snow from November to May. Sometimes she is completely hidden under snow and ice, falsely presenting herself as a wide, safe white trail through the forest. But then as one travels around a bend, a visible dark shadow in the ice will be seen and you are reminded to be aware; she is there, flowing steady.