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Right from the start, I can unequivocally say that Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes is one of the most historically important lighthouse related books to be released in years. It was Connie Small in her 1986 book, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife, who first wrote in modern times about the Reverend William H. Law, and Lighthouse Digest first mentioned him in 2004. Additionally, I wrote briefly about him in my book, Lighthouses of the Sunrise County and finally, I devoted an entire chapter to him in my book Ghost Lights of Michigan. But all that information was from various sketchy sources and slices of history that we had been able to locate up to that time. Now, finally, the amazing life of this man, who was a friend first and chaplain second to the lighthouse keepers and the surf-men at life-saving stations, is fully told in one amazing and outstanding book.
After having his life saved by the crew of a U.S. Life-Saving Station on the Great Lakes, Rev. Law spent the rest of his life documenting and writing about the heroic acts of the men and women at lighthouses and life-saving stations. But, more importantly, he worked diligently trying to improve their lives monetarily, educationally, and spiritually. In can easily be stated, without a doubt, that Rev. William H. Law played a major role in having Congress in 1915 pass a law that merged the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Revenue Service to create the United States Coast Guard. So, it could easily be stated that he was one of the co-founders of the Coast Guard.
Although Law was called “Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes,” that affectionate title is somewhat misleading, because not only did Rev. Law communicate with keepers far away from the Great Lakes, he also travelled to visit with many of them. This book not only gives a full account of his life, exploits, and accomplishments, but it also retells some of the many heroic stories that he preserved for future generations, some that would otherwise have likely been lost forever.
Written by W.H. Law’s great-great-grandson, John Kotzian, Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes, A Biography of the Reverenced William H. Law is a soft cover book, with 202 pages and numerous historical black and white photographs. If I were to rate books from one star to five stars, with five being the best, this book would rate five stars. It is a book that should be read by and in the library of anyone with even the slightest interest in the maritime history of the United States.
Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes is available as item #2153 for $17.95 plus shipping from Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630, or on-line at www.LighthouseDigest.com. It can also be ordered by calling 207-259-2121.
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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