Tales of a Keweenaw Mom

By:   Kathleen Carlton Johnson, Patricia Duke Hicks
Imprint:   Modern History Press
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 156mm,  Spine: 8mm
Weight:   299g
ISBN:   9798896561095
Pages:   84
Publication Date:   23 April 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

I was born Kathleen Ann Carlton on a cold, blustery February morning, and spent my first year of education at the Charles Briggs School. In Laurium. Later, I dodged snowplows in snowpants on my way to Sacred Heart School in Laurium.My dad, answering the call of the ""sea,"" re-enlisted in the Navy in the early 50's. Thus began our odyssey; my four sisters and precious mother were off to ""sea"" America. I lived in an unusual world, one that changed every three years, though my summers were always spent at Eagle Harbor. I went from the anonymity of service life to the certainty of family, friends, and relatives of more than one generation. People would say, ""Oh, I remember your grandfather,"" or, ""You remind me of your dad."" Always permanent in my life, were the Keweenaw, the Copper Country, berry picking, searching for agates, and swimming in icy blue water.My college education, which I consider my best, took place at a very old, southern school that boasted graduates of Washington and Jefferson. Despite the venerable tradition and conservatism, I was well prepared for the challenges of the modern world. My education at the College of William and Mary was memorable. I found myself fully employed, working as an itinerant art teacher in a place where the only idea of art centered around pork and peanuts. It was not a very gratifying, artistic endeavor. However, the people I met were worth all of it: Henry Blount, Lisha Booker, and Darrel Duck shall always remain an inspiration to my human spirit.My travels had me teaching in various places, but it was not until my father decided to build his dream retirement home that I met a most wonderful person. Within the year, Robert and I were married at Eagle Harbor. In 1982, after a bitter winter and a welcome spring, we had our first child, a son, named for his father. A year and a half later, we had our second son, Joe. And then Margaret and lastly, Regina. By the late 80's, I had a darling husband, a complete family, and a house that was not paid for. In 34 years, so much has changed, yet the world of the child remains constant and universal in many ways.