Grace Johnson holds her book, “Frederick W. Dickinson: Sleeping Bear Dunes Pioneer Photographer,” the way one might hold an old family photo album — with consideration and sparkling eyes. Inside are handcolored photos, black and white prints, postcards and drawings, each one a fragment of life in Leelanau County as her parents knew and loved it.
Assembled by Johnson to honor her parents, the book brings together decades of work by her father, Frederick W. Dickinson, alongside her mother’s works, Johnson’s own writing, drawings, and archival selections that highlight the people behind the images.
Dickinson’s photographs have been famous for decades and many people had been requesting a book about Johnson’s parents for years until a close friend finally encouraged her to take the idea seriously. The result functions both as a family album and visual history of Glen Arbor and the surrounding area.
