Art Beat

Most of those who have heard of John Fetzer usually know him as the former owner of the Detroit Tigers. Some in Michigan, and especially in Kalamazoo, know a little about Fetzer’s other interests: broadcasting, and spiritual exploration. In his new book, John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Western Michigan University professor Brian Wilson digs much deeper to reveal what very few knew about the Michigan entrepreneur.

Alzheimer’s disease affects more and more families, and it figures more often now in novels as authors explore the dynamics of the disease. Kalamazoo writer and former psychotherapist Deborah Gang addresses Alzheimer’s in her debut novel, The Half-Life of Everything (Bancroft Press, 2018).

When Lori Evesque earned her degree in food and biological process engineering at Purdue University, she didn’t see herself becoming a sheep farmer - yet. She began at Kraft as a food engineer. But that changed when she was asked to create a lighter and thinner waffle by adding wood pulp. That's right - wood pulp.

He’s been known to draw with his eyes closed. At the beginning of one of Michael Dunn’s sketch series called "Accidental Marks," he puts pencil to paper blind, allowing his hand and mind free movement. Then, opening his eyes, he begins to shade, making this line or that darker, or pulling a feature or a figure out of hiding, until something dream-like emerges.