This book began as a simple memoir for future generations of C. John Miller's family. It grew into an inspirational story of triumph of faith, in self and in God. The reader is taken on the journey that starts with an oil driller's kid born to a stark life at the depth of the Great Depression. We follow that kid to the pinnacle of accolades, selection as one of the 100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century, across all the hilltops and into the valleys a risky industry and a tough business climate can throw at those who try to outsmart Mother Nature to find the oil and gas we need....

Walk with us through the streets of this lumber/oil/university town in the center of Michigan, rooted in the 1855-established Saginaw-Chippewa Indian Reservation. Inside, we will visit the homes of hundreds of those who have come before us and, where possible, see how the structures have changed through the decades. Join author Jack R. Westbrook, whose five previous middle Michigan photo history books have put the spotlight on our area's past, on a photographic journey through the historic core of Mt. Pleasant and meet some of the residents who have added colorful threads to the tapestry of...

For seven years, retired Michigan Oil & Gas News Managing Editor Jack R. Westbrook has been furnishing local Mt. Pleasant publications with local historical photo articles ranging from the significant to the whimsical. Westbrook was a regular monthly contributor to the Mt. Pleasant Monthly Magazine with a full page feature called "The Way We Were." When the Mt. Pleasant Monthly ceased publication, Westbrook began his "Mid-Michigan History" ongoing series of regular features in the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun daily newspaper. Now Westbrook has assembled those articles, with relevant pages...