About the Author

Tim Mulherin first visited northwest lower Michigan’s Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties in 1986, traveling from Indianapolis, Indiana, and hasn’t been the same since. As his love for the region grew, he became a close observer of the changes that have increasingly — and most profoundly since the pandemic — occurred in the place of his beloved second home. His writing expresses his high regard for northern Michigan’s great outdoors and its people, and is an encouragement for visitors to respect this national treasure.

His first book, published in 2021, entitled Sand, Stars, Wind, & Water: Field Notes from Up North, appreciatively conveys his nearly four decades-long relationship with northern Michigan. It engagingly — and humorously — covers some of his many outdoor experiences, including hiking and cross-country skiing on woodland trails, dune climbing, trout fishing, sailing across Lake Michigan to camp on South Manitou and Garden islands, kayaking crystalline waters of local lakes and rivers, driving the scenic M-22 highway, and savoring downtime on Michigan beaches. His essays are also a timely commentary on invasive species — both aquatic and human.

Mulherin earned a bachelor of arts degree in English, with a concentration in nonfiction writing, from Indiana University Indianapolis. He went on to obtain a master of arts degree in journalism from IU Indy and a master of science in management degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. He also taught for a decade in IU Indy’s Department of English.

Mulherin and his wife have owned a cottage in the village of Cedar for the past 17 years, and before that, on Spider Lake just southeast of Traverse City. He now splits his time between Indianapolis and Leelanau County, preferring the village of Cedar and northern Michigan by far. But he loves his deeply rooted Hoosier wife and intends to stay married, for better or for worse.