Stories from the Riverbank

Stories From the Riverbank is a collection of published newspaper columns and personal writings that offer glimpses of the cultural, personal, and natural history of northern Michigan through the eyes of a lifelong resident. Clifford R. Roberts of Onaway shares stories and observations infused with local color and history from the Depression era to the present. Born and raised in sight of Onaway’s grain elevator, Roberts shares personal and family stories of growing up in a small town whose claim to fame in the early 1900s was “Onaway Steers the World” by making wooden steering wheels for cars. Fishing and boating on Michigan’s lakes, rivers, and streams figure largely in these tales, as do stories of hunting, school, and family life. Roberts’ keen observations of nature-especially wildlife and birds-from his vantage point living on the banks of the Black River and Black Lake comprise the major portion of these writings. As a columnist for his hometown’s paper The Onaway Outlook for more than twenty years, he shares the best of his writings from columns entitled From the Riverbank, From the Lakeshore, and On the Road.