The raffle will run from Monday, June 22 to Sunday, June 28.
Gestalten ‘Do You Read Me?’ (photo courtesy of Gestalten)
Gestaltenis an international publishing house founded in 1995 in Berlin, Germany.
Primarily specializing in high-quality visual books on design, travel, art, and lifestyle, Gestalten is well known around the world for publishing gorgeous coffee-table books.
Their newest offering is 272 pages long and was published on June 09, 2020.
I was honored to be invited by Gestalten to be a contributor for this book, offering some of my photos and information on John K. King Used and Rare Books in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
The book was compiled by author Marianne Julia Strauss and the introduction is by Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfort Book Fair.
John King Books Detroit featured in Gestalten ‘Do You Read Me?’
The raffle will run from Monday, May 18, 2020 – Sunday, May 24, 2020
Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas and Chronology by Ken Miller
Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, is considered The Roller Coaster Capital of the World.
Repeatedly voted the USA’S best amusement park (with best coaster Steel Vengeance and best amusement park hotel Hotel Breakers), Cedar Point attracts over 3 million visitors per year.
Lucky for us, Cedar Point is only two hours south of Detroit. Every Summer, my mom and grandparents and I used to drive down and join the adrenaline junkies for the great endorphins rush of coaster mania. My favorite ride is probably the Magnum, an underrated, terrifyingly jerky 80’s-tastic coaster. I also enjoy the annual HalloWeekends event.
Cedar Point (image courtesy of Cedar Point)
Opened in 1870 on Lake Erie, Cedar Point is 364 acres and features 72 rides (18 roller coasters), 5 hotels, Cedar Point Shores waterpark, two marinas, a mile-long sandy beach, and more.
Some of the top coasters are: Steel Vengeance (world’s best coaster; 74 mph straight drop for 30 seconds), Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Raptor, GateKeeper, Wicked Twister, Valravn, etc.
You can also ride the Gondola (aka: Sky Ride) over the Main Midway. It’s 92 feet in the air and offers great views of the entire park. And there’s the classic Railroad ride (built 1963) where you pass through Boneville, an Old West town of 48 animatronic skeletons.
Cedar Point hires more than 5,000 seasonal employees from all over the world every year. Workers live on-site in the Commons Campus dorms and also Bayside Campus Apartments.
Ken Miller, the Herodotus of Cedar Point
Ken Miller (image courtesy of 1870 Publishing Group)
In the back NW corner of the park, in Frontier Town, inside the Town Hall Museum, you can find Ken Miller eagerly explaining park history and memorabilia.
Ken Miller has distinguished himself as a major Cedar Point historian. He is also a high school math teacher and chess enthusiast.
Recently, his company 1870 Publishing Group printed the bible of Cedar Point, a massive coffee table elephant folio sized book entitled ‘Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas and Chronology’.
Scholarly, informative and action-packed, this tremendous resource took Ken over 7 years to write and compile. He even minutely combed through more than 100,000 newspaper articles.
Lushly inlaid with photographs and historical memorabilia, the book is 392 pages, measures 12 inches x 18 inches, weighs 12 pounds, and contains 75 maps.
1,000 limited-edition signed and numbered copies of the book featuring a special cover designed by Paul Bonifield and Ashley Spedding, quickly sold out.
Biography of Ken Miller
Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas and Chronology by Ken Miller
“I was born and raised in Michigan. Lived in Livonia from 3rd grade to 11th, then moved to Ohio in high school during the 70’s. I worked sales and marketing after college in the Dungeons & Dragons industry. Switched to teaching math about a dozen years ago.”
“Still read science fiction and fantasy, as well as historical drama. Favorite TV show is MASH. In my free time I play tournament chess, but I haven’t had any free time in years.”
Ken started working at Cedar Point in 2000 and started working at the Town Hall Museum in 2004
Cedar Point (image courtesy of Cedar Point)
“I started with Cedar Point running the store inside the Sandcastle Suites Hotel. When the guests were in the park, the store was very slow, so I started reading the Cedar Point books we had there. Learned a lot of trivia and history about the park.”
“A few years later, I was working front of the park when management asked me to help in the museum.”
“The Town Hall Museum is run by Guest Services, so most of my job functions revolve around that. I think I have the best job in the park. I get to work with the guests, share some trivia, tell them where to get funnel cakes, etc. And stay in the air conditioning.”
Cedar Point is fascinating, unique, and worthy of attention
Cedar Point (image courtesy of Cedar Point)
“Cedar Point wasn’t designed. It grew organically, gradually into what it is today. The development over the last 150 years has been incredible.”
“The book is loaded with fun facts and trivia about the park. The ‘Did you know?’ pages 186-7 have lots of miscellaneous stuff.”
“One of my favorites is the amount of food the park goes through every season: 190,000 pounds of hamburger, 91 miles of hot dogs, 29,000 gallons of ice cream, 595 tons of french fries, and 800,000 gallons of beverages!”
“As for the coasters, I’m not much of a rider anymore myself. Can’t do circles, otherwise I’d be fine on the Raptor, until the final helix at the end. Favorite coaster is GateKeeper, favorite ride is the Train.”
Ken’s Overview of the Book
Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas and Chronology by Ken Miller
“’Rolling Through The Years’ is a textbook and the ultimate resource about Cedar Point. It is divided into two main sections.”
“The first section is grouped by subject. For example, if you want to know everything about the Carousels, the information is all together in one place.”
“The second section is by year. Starting in the 1700s, all the major events and developments are listed. Included in this section are over 75 maps of the park, which illustrates the amazing development of the park.”
The Process of Assembling and Publishing the Book
Rolling Through The Years: A Cedar Point Atlas and Chronology by Ken Miller
“Assembling the book was time consuming and difficult.”
“1,200 images all had to be formatted and laid into the software. Every change on one page could inadvertently change the next page, so we had to be very careful as we put the book together. After the book was assembled, we sent it to three editors, two for content and one for copy. I also had both the current and retired Cedar Point General Manager look through the book.”
“Actually, it was far harder to print the book than expected. There are not many printers that could handle the size and weight. Our first thought was overseas, but they couldn’t guarantee any kind of time frames. We then chose a printer in Cincinnati. We ended up switching printers halfway through the project to a printer in Tennessee. The cover material was special order due to the weight and the new printer had issues with it. They could only handle a small amount of books each week, so we missed our original release date.”
Commonalities Among Coaster Enthusiasts & the Legendary Regulars
Cedar Point (image courtesy of Cedar Point)
“Sure, just like any fans/enthusiasts in any pop culture milieu, we have our fair share. When I worked in the Dungeons & Dragons industry, there were fans. Football has its enthusiasts, Nascar has theirs, Broadway musicals have theirs, etc. And to anyone on the outside, it’s all weird.”
“Cedar Point has its share of regulars, many of whom come into Town Hall. Most notable was ‘Mean Streak Henry’ Sievers who had the unofficial ridership record for the Mean Streak roller coaster. And I mean thousands upon thousands of rides.”
Ken’s Recommendations on places to check out in Sandusky
The raffle will run from Monday, October 14 to Sunday, October 20.
Asylum Publications
Asylum Publications is a new publishing company located in Metro Detroit. Owned by serial entrepreneur Paul Burke, Asylum is slated to publish 100 titles by Summer 2020.
One of their most recent offerings is a beautifully rendered book called ‘The Early Years of McFarlane Toys‘.
Paul Burke worked closely with Todd McFarlane to co-develop McFarlane Toys and he has created a book about the unusual and ever-interesting twists & turns in bringing this multi-million-dollar toy company to life.
At the time, Paul was Co-founder / co-CEO / Vice Chairman of TMP International, which McFarlane Toys was a division of and, fun fact, they also had a partial ownership stake in the Edmonton Oilers NHL hockey team.
Image courtesy of Spawn
McFarlane Toys started in 1994 as Todd’s Toys, after they detached from Mattel and became independent. They quickly became the world’s 4th largest toy company and the largest US action figure company in Japan.
McFarlane Toys originally made Spawn action figures based on Todd’s comic book series called Spawn. After those were wildly successful, they started producing other general horror, movie and sports figures.
Span logo courtesy of Spawn
Fun Fact:
The Spawn comic book series just received a Guinness World Record for issue 301, making it the Longest Running Creator-Owned Comic Book in history.
‘The Early Years of McFarlane Toys’ is a fascinating book which you will enjoy immensely.
Biography of Paul Burke
Paul Burke (left) and Jack Faragasso (right) at Jack’s apartment in Manhattan NYC
Paul Burke is a well-known behind the scenes serial entrepreneur and financier whom typically does business on behalf of creators and artists.
Paul currently lives in Metro Detroit but has lived and traveled all over the world for business.
He has been a businessman for five decades and was involved in the management of rock band KISS in the 1970’s and even went on to found his own music publishing company, Stabur East Music / Can-Am Music, Inc.
In 1983 he got out of management and into publishing when he founded Stabur Graphics / Stabur Press publishing companies.
Stabur worked with some of the top cartoonists in the world and published several high-quality books, art prints, specialty books, books for Disney, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc, until eventually merging with Caliber Comics, a company owned by his pal Gary Reed.
Among many other endeavors, Paul co-founded and was chairman of an automotive design and fabrication company, Blue Fusion, which became the 44th Global Tier One supplier to Ford Motor Company.
He re-organized a security mapping and documentation company for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
And he formed a company to advise private equity firms, EverGreen Capital Management and The Gores Group.
Stabur Home Video ‘Comic Book Greats’ (image courtesy of Stabur)
Over the years, Paul has interfaced with an impressive cross-section of pop-culture titans ranging from Stan Lee to Mad Magazine (Jack Davis and Bill Elder) to Bob Guccione (Penthouse) and others.
Paul Burke and Stan Lee even co-produced a 13-episode video series called ‘Comic Book Greats‘ from 1991-1992 for Stabur Home Video.
Paul also co-developed Deadworld Zombie Soda with Gary Reed. It started as a fun novelty joke, but sales unexpectedly took off and it became internationally popular.
Deadworld Zombie Soda (image courtesy of Deadworld)
Paul is currently involved with Asylum Publications, Source Point Press, Binary Press, and more.
Asylum Publications is scheduled to bring a number of books to market in all facets of pop culture, including publishing the fine art of 91-year-old Jack Faragasso, renowned New York artist and educator, in a follow-up to his ‘Early Photographs of Bettie Page’ book.
Asylum is working to make people aware of this great artist who has devoted his life to art, through a series of books and prints.
Dedd Fredd holding bottle of Asylum Zombie Soda (image courtesy of Asylum)
Here at Detroit Bookfest we are starting a new series called the Bookfest Explorer Series.
This will be a collection of travel experiences whereby we will periodically document our literary travels, both domestic and abroad, to help highlight the global community of books.
First up, Boston.
Founded in 1630, Boston is the 7th oldest city in the United States. Featuring sunken red brick sidewalks and beautiful old buildings aplenty, the city is loaded with history and rows of opulent townhouses for blocks.
Heading from Logan Airport to the Park Plaza Hotel (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Open since 1807, non-members can tour the first floor of this exceptional private library for $10.00. All 12 floors are open to members.
The focus of the collection is arts and humanities. World-class paintings grace the walls and there are marble busts of philosophers on stands.
Through the rear window, you can see the grave of Paul Revere in the Granary Burying Ground! This old cemetery opened in 1660 and there are several historical grave sites here.
Also, as a bonus, check out the Paul Revere House (19 North Square). Built in 1680, it’s Boston’s oldest building. Paul Revere’s famous 1775 Midnight Ride started here.
Boston Athenæum (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Boston Athenæum (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Boston Athenæum (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Image courtesy of James Cole
Boston Athenæum (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Paul Revere’s Grave @ Granary Burying Ground (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Paul Revere’s Grave @ Granary Burying Ground (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
old grave @ Granary Burying Ground (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Open since 1848 and smartly situated in beautiful Copley Square, the BPL was the first large free municipal library in the United States.
Be sure to check out the gorgeous 2nd floor Bates Hall reading room.
Also located on the 2nd floor, the Abbey Room, looks medieval European ornate, walls adorned with giant murals of the Holy Grail tale and 150 life-size figures from Arthurian legend ring the room, staring down at you. Who says paintings can’t talk?
Boston Public Library (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Bates Hall reading room @ BPL (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
This beautiful 14-floor hotel opened in 1855. Charles Dickens lived here on the 3rd floor from 1867-68. He read ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the Last Hurrah Bar inside the hotel for the first time in America. They have his original door (view it in the basement) and gigantic mirror (view it on the mezzanine level) here.
Also, of note, Ho Chi Minh was a pastry chef here 1911-13, Malcolm X was a busboy, the Boston Cream Pie was invented here, and President JFK was a frequent guest!
Located next to the worldwide home of the Christian Science Church (which also houses the world’s 9th largest pipe organ), the Mary Bakery Eddy Library features a one-of-a-kind experience inside The Mapparium.
For only $6.00, you can tour The Mapparium for a delightfully psychedelic experience. The Mapparium is a 30-foot stained glass globe built in 1935 and features 608 glass panels. A walkway bisects the center of it.
At one point, they turn the lights off and there’s a light show around the world. Crazy how sound travels in here, sounds like every whisper is microphone-amplified, incredible.
Please note that photography is not allowed inside The Mapparium.
Mapparium (photo by: Ryan M. Place)
Mapparium (image courtesy of Mary Baker Eddy Library)
The raffle will run from Monday, September 23 to Sunday, September 29.
Detroit: Engine of America
‘Detroit: Engine of America‘ is written by award-winning journalist, editor, and author R.J. King. Published by Momentum Books, this 168-page hardcover book is the ultimate book about Detroit’s history.
King, editor of DBusiness magazine, DBusiness Daily News, DBusiness Tech and Mobility News, and Detroit 500, details chronologically, for the first time, how the city grew, step by step, from a French fort on the Detroit River in 1701 to become the world’s first industrial powerhouse and the birthplace of the automotive industry in 1900.
In the first chapter, “Detroit: Engine of America” details how from 1600 to 1800 the superpowers of Europe — France, England, Spain, and the Netherlands — opened trade routes to the New World. The English and the Dutch settled along the East Coast, the Spanish went south to Florida, Cuba, and the West Indies, while the French sailed the St. Lawrence River and established Quebec and Montreal before turning south to found Detroit.
From there, the book covers the city’s growth by decade, from 1800 to 1900, including the Great Fire of 1805, the platting of modern streets by Augustus B. Woodward, the War of 1812 and the surrender of the city to the British, the resulting American victory, the rapid development of a manufacturing economy, the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the resulting mass migration of people from the East Coast and beyond to what is the oldest city in the Midwest.
Detroit: Engine of America (image courtesy of Momentum Books)
Readers will learn about Detroit’s role in other major milestones such as the establishment of Michigan as a state in 1837, and the expansion of industry fueled by the production of iron, steel, copper, and brass machinery, and the breakneck progression of farms, hearths, stoves, mills, foundries, steamships, railroads, and finally, the horseless carriage.
The book is designed as a journal, complete with a red page-mark ribbon, to evoke an explorer’s guide to Detroit. Booklovers can follow in the footsteps of well-known pioneers, inventors, and merchants of the era, including Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, Lewis Cass, Father Gabriel Richard, Gov. Stevens T. Mason, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Elijah Brush, Bernhard Stroh, Frederick Sanders, R.L. Polk, Ellen Scripps, Mayor Hazen S. Pingree, Henry Ford, and many more.
“Detroit has turned the corner on its renaissance, but few people know how the city was, and still is, at the cutting edge of manufacturing, innovation, and culture,” says King, author of “Mystical,” “Passport to the Corner Office,” and “8 Track: The First Mobile App.” “My new book is a tribute to the men and women who built a city out of the wilderness starting in 1701, and sustained its incredible growth to become the world’s Industrial Versailles in 1900. And the best part is, Detroit is still leading the way. It remains the ultimate Maker City.”
Momentum Books was founded in 1987 and was acquired by Hour Media in 2001. As a small press focusing on regional nonfiction, Momentum has cultivated a reputation for its exceptional catalog of award-winning, mostly Michigan-centric, books.
Momentum Books
“It’s an outstanding book.”
— Bob Bury, President and CEO, Fair Lane Home of Clara and Henry Ford, former President and CEO, Detroit Historical Museum
“It’s a beautiful book and it’s done so well.”
— Mitch Albom, Author, Columnist, Host on WJR-AM
“R.J. King’s book provides great insight on leadership and how people working together can accomplish amazing things.”
— Vanessa Denha-Garmo, Host, “It’s Your Community,” WJR-AM
R.J. King (photo courtesy of R.J. King)
Biography of R.J. King
R.J. King is editor of DBusiness magazine, DBusiness Daily News, Tech and Mobility News, and Detroit 500, all of which cover companies in metro Detroit and Michigan that are expanding locally, nationally, and internationally. He also is author of four books, “Detroit: Engine of America,” “Passport to the Corner Office: The Starter’s Guide to Corporate Life,” “8 Track: The First Mobile App,” and “Mystical.”
Since 2011, DBusiness magazine has been honored with more than 35 Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the Editorial Excellence Awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, including being named the top regional business magazine in the country. Prior to launching DBusiness in 2006, Mr. King was a business writer for The Detroit News for 16 years, where he wrote more than 4,000 articles covering economic development, automotive, aerospace, health care, technology, transportation, and other business sectors.
Mr. King is a board member of the Brother Rice Business Alliance, Beyond Basics, Detroit Aircraft Corp., Detroit Spacecraft Corp., ASX, and the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees for The Parade Co. He is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, and on the board of the DAC Executives Club and the DAC Car Club. He also is a member of the Boston-Edison Historic District and the University of Michigan Alumni Association. In 2014, Mr. King was inducted into the International Heritage Foundation’s Heritage Hall of Fame.
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