Eight Steamboats—Sailing Through the Sixties

Instructor: Patrick Livingston

During the late 1960s Patrick Livingston worked as a crew member aboard Great Lakes passenger ships and freighters. His memoir of those years resulted in the Michigan Library Notable Book—Eight Steamboats—Sailing Through the Sixties. Eight Steamboats takes the reader on a journey through the St. Lawrence Seaway and, along the way, recounts the life-shaping adventures of a young man coming of age during a tempestuous period in our nation’s history. “It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but Patrick Livingston’s unique perspective definitely makes it a journey worth repeating” —Harvey Ovshinsky.

About the Presenter: Patrick Livingston is a native of Detroit who visited Bob-lo Island Park almost every summer until it closed in 1993. One of the highlights of his early life was being hired as a crew member of the Bob-lo boat SS Columbia, one of the ships he profiled in his book Eight Steamboats—Sailing Through the Sixties, selected as a Michigan Notable Book of 2005. Livingston’s second book Summer Dreams—The Story of Bob-lo Island was also selected as a Michigan Notable Book in 2009. His most recent book is a work of fiction entitled A Day at Bob-lo.