We “sat down” virtually with Joseph Stanhope Cialdella to talk about his new book, Motor City Green, which explores the history of urban gardens and green spaces in Detroit. Q: What drew you to this topic/subject area? A: I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI, which is on the west side of the state, and we didn’t spend much time in Detroit, which is on the east side of the state. That changed when I went to college [at the University of Michigan’s Residential College], and was fortunate to participate in several engaged learning courses where we had the…

(geographically arranged from Cumberland to Pittsburgh) 1 Mile 5 – Helmstetter’s Curve For the first 13 miles the GAP is a rail-with-trail. You share the route with a classic steam train. Time your ride to catch the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s Mt. Thunder pounding through the sweeping 1/2 mile Helmstetter’s Curve on its way up the east side of Big Savage Mountain to Frostburg, MD.   2 Mile 22 – Big Savage Tunnel & Overlook Stop and relax at the Big Savage Overlook. From the edge of the trail you look southeast to waves of folded mountains and 3 states,…

Robert D. Lifset is the Donald Keith Jones Assistant Professor of Honors and History at the University of Oklahoma. Lifset’s research and teaching interests focus on energy history broadly defined. This includes the business, policy, political, environmental, social and cultural history of energy with a focus, though not exclusive, on the United States in the 20th century. His books include Power on the Hudson, Storm King Mountain and The Emergence of Modern American Environmentalism (2014) and American Energy Policy in the 1970s (2014). Lifset is currently researching a history of the energy crisis of the 1970s.  Robert Lifset is also the founding web and list editor…