Mikel B. Classen

About: Mikel B. Classen

Mikel B. Classen has been writing and photographing northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for over thirty-five years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan’s north country. A journalist, historian, photographer and author with a fascination of the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past. He is founder of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. In 2020, Mikel won the Historical Society of Michigan’s, George Follo Award for Upper Peninsula History.

Classen makes his home in the oldest city in Michigan, historic Sault Ste. Marie. He is also a collector of out-of-print history books, and historical photographs and prints of Upper Michigan. At Northern Michigan University, he studied English, history, journalism and photography.

His book, Au Sable Point Lighthouse, Beacon on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast; was published in 2014 and his book, Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquette Libel Trial; was published in 2015. Both published by the History Press. He has a book of fiction called Lake Superior Tales, which won the 2020 U.P. Notable Book Award. His book, Points North is a non- fiction travel book published in 2019. Points North has received the Historical Society of Michigan’s, “Outstanding Michigan History Publication,” along with the 2021 U.P. Notable Book Award. Since then, he has released, True Tales, the Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the newest release is Faces, Places, & Days Gone By, a Pictorial History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Mikel is co-author of the Yooper Ale Trails along with Jon C. Stott all published by Modern History Press.