LIFE & LORE ALONG ILLINOIS WATERWAYS

About the Book

Life & Lore Along Illinois’ Waterways is a series of essays and interviews that take you on a journey through time.  Unravel the mystery of Illinois’ great bison herds, learn the origin of Illinois corn, and discover how rivers like the Spoon and Sangamon were named.  You’ll fight alongside the Native Americans who first called these areas home, tussle with rough and tough keelboatmen, ride the first steamboat up the Illinois River, plan a dangerous business venture with Abe Lincoln, and search for Al Capone’s duck club.  

Interviews with sport and commercial fisherman, market hunters, fishing guides, scientists, and artisans will provide you with an intimate look at the rivers and streams of yesterday and today.  You’ll learn how large numbers of game birds were preserved prior to the advent of modern refrigeration, where to find channel catfish in modern river systems, how to carve working decoys, and what it takes to restore and care for a tallgrass prairie.  You’ll find answers to questions like:  What did the prairies that lined the edges of the waterways 150 years ago consist of?  What really was fire’s role in the health of one of these immense grasslands?  What conditions existed that allowed gamefish to flourish in the mighty rivers and the shallow streams?  What attracted such large numbers of game animals and waterfowl to these riparian areas?  What are the causes and solutions to the problem of siltation in rivers and their backwater lakes?

Life & Lore Along Illinois Waterways also features biographies of birds and mammals indigenous to Illinois.  Join the state’s leading wildlife biologists in investigating the history and current status of black bears, cougars, badgers, eagles, turkeys, and wild boars.  Find out why Eurasian watermilfoil is a threat to Illinois waterways and learn how muskies are propagated.

Then, get ready for some hair-raising stories, as we uncover some of Illinois’ scariest tall tales!

Three years in the writing, Life & Lore Along Illinois Waterways is nostalgic, informative, and best of all, fun to read!

About the Author

Born in Los Angeles, California in 1958, Michael David Raya rode the famous Santa Fe Super Chief east to Peoria, Illinois with his great grandfather at the ripe old age of four weeks.  There, he was raised by his grandparents who themselves had grown up in the busy, Illinois River port during the early 20th century—a time when riverboats still ran up and down the waterway and commercial fishing was in its heyday.  

A love for the great outdoors was instilled in Michael early on as his grandfather taught him to fish the Illinois River and area lakes.  The fishing trips became more frequent during Michael’s four-years at Peoria High School, especially after he purchased his first automobile, a 1965 Dodge Dart.

After high school, Michael attended Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Illinois.  During this period, he began freelance writing for various environmental organizations.  Although his major was business management, he spent his free time soaking up the information contained in the school library’s wildlife biology section.  He spent his summers canoeing Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area and hiking the trails of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

In late 1984, Michael began a career in powerlifting.  Now, in his 17th year, he has won 65 awards including the titles of 1989-90-91 Illinois State Deadlifting Champion, 1991-92 U.S.P.F. Illinois State Powerlifting Champion, and 1992 N.A.S.A. National Deadlifting Champion.  He has authored Effective Weight Training for the New Millennium and The Modern-day Karate Reference Manual.

Between 1991 and 1995, Michael owned and operated Raya’s Power & Fitness Center and Raya’s Marketing, both in Pekin, Illinois, along with The Hair Affair & Tan-X in Lacon, Illinois.  At Raya’s Marketing, he was able to continue his work as a freelance writer/graphic designer, creating multi-media marketing campaigns for a wide variety of industries and non-profit organizations.

In mid-1995, Michael opted to work in marketing exclusively.  As a freelance writer, he wrote business profiles for weekly newspapers in small towns across central Illinois.  He also wrote feature stories for Adventure Sports Outdoors, a monthly hunting and fishing magazine distributed throughout the state.  Eventually, he was asked to serve as the magazine’s editor and graphic designer.  During this time, he also wrote Letters From the Front:  Three Years in the Civil War, a look at the great War Between the States through the letters of his great, great, great, great uncle, 1st Sergeant Chester W. Shaw of the 101st Illinois Infantry Volunteers.

During his association with Adventure Sports Outdoors, Michael met many of the people featured in his book Life & Lore Along Illinois Waterways.  His writing style for Life & Lore Along Illinois Waterways was based upon the participatory journalism of George Plimpton—the one writer Michael admires most.  He echoes Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s remark:  “Some men want to be President, but I’d rather be George Plimpton.”