Troy Residents Host Book-Signing Party for Dad

It was all about pride, creativity, hard work and a boatload of fun when Lucy Simone threw a book-signing party recently at her Troy home for her father, poet Robert McGowan.

“A Year on the River” (St. Clair Press), is a hardcover, coffee-table tome that takes readers on a 12-month cruise along the Detroit River. Thirty-two poems accompany the full-color images, which cut straight to the essence of solitude with pictures of ice, morning light and flying gulls.

Simone said she and her family wanted to put the spotlight on “Grandpa,” who worked long and hard on his first published offering that was two years in the making.

“We wanted to do this for him,” said Simone, who grew up in Birmingham. “It was a good way to get the word out about the book.”

An extended family of friends, neighbors, relatives and others attended the event, where McGowan signed copies of the book and recited poetry lines, such as “… she my joyful springtime shanty my seasonal release,” from  “Sailing with no Protection.”

McGowan said the idea for the book came in an email containing several images that he received from friend and professional photographer Joe Crachiola.

“I admire Joe a lot,” said McGowan, who met him years before when Crachiola did some work for the ad agency where McGowan worked. “When I first saw his photos, I said ‘Wow, this guy is good.’”

Crachiola lived on his 28-foot sailboat, the Half Moon, at the DTE Energy Marina throughout 2008. Ensconced in shrink-wrap during the winter and equipped with a cutout door fitted with a Velcro latch, the boat was Crachiola’s home even in the bitter cold.

“He kept it on water and had a bubbler that prevented the water from icing over,” McGowan explained. “Every day, he’d get up and photograph things.”

Crachiola’s subjects ranged from skylines, cloudscapes and waterfowl to dock details and boat and marina minutia. “He’d send out jpegs of the images to his friends, me among them," McGowan said. "I was absolutely intrigued by the photos and by his living on his boat. That really struck my fancy.”

The poet said the undertaking evoked in his mind the adventures of “Huckleberry Finn or Moby Dick, that sort of thing,” he said.  “I was moved and inspired to write poems about his photos.

McGowan, who grew up in Rochester and has since moved to Clarkston, said he has been writing poetry since he was a teenager. He graduated in the 1960s from Oakland University with degrees in English and French. 

“After I wrote 20 or so poems to accompany the river images, I said, ‘Hmmm, we might have something here,’” McGowan said. He then spoke with graphic designer James Russell. “I said, ‘Let’s design something.’”

That something is why Simone, her husband, Piero Simone, and their their three children are filled with pride.

"Lucy and Piero were gracious hosts," said neighbor Mary Bester. " Their pride for Bob and his inspirational work certainly shows through."  

Bester said she believes McGowan's poems bring the photographs to life. "This book does wonderful things for the City of Detroit," she said.

At one point during the publishing process, the book was in the hands of a major university press, McGowan said.  “They had it for seven months -- an editor there loved it, but then a financial guy reviewed it and thought that because it was about the Detroit River, it might not sell well.”

That didn’t stop McGowan. Soon after, he had 2,000 copies of the book printed in Ann Arbor. At the same time, McGowan started his own publishing house. He said he plans to publish more books, one of which has spiritual overtones.

Milford poet Thomas Lynch and 13th-Century poet Rumi are among McGowan’s favorites. “And I’m nuts about Elizabeth Bishop -- she’s a wonderful poet,” he said.

Most of the verse in “A Year on the River,” went through several rounds of fine-tuning. “I’m most interested in rhythms and sounds,” McGowan said. “I craft the poems, go over them, tweak them, and even throw some out.”

 To those who want to write poetry, he says: “Get something down, share it and have fun with it.”    

The Simones certainly had fun with the book. Even their young daughter Olivia is getting into the creative act and working on her own book, of sorts.

“I think my father's book of poetry is a wonderful idea, and I’m really glad that he was able to realize his dream,” Lucy Simone said. “It’s a great collaboration. He always wanted to do this.”

For more information about McGowan’s book, “A Year on the River,” call (248) 620-0111, or go to www.thestclairpress.com.