Media Placements*
Newspapers and Magazines
About Mary McKSchmidt . . .
2019Spring, 2019. Great Lakes Scuttlebutt
Amber Stark. "Your Next Read: Uncharted Waters" As a fellow writer and someone who appreciates the great outdoors, I was intrigued by the prologue, and then hooked as I saw a kinship with McKSchmidt. Our modes of transportation may be different--she's a sailor and I'm an RVer--but that search for balance between a corporate office and nature? I get it . . . Well-written, witty and informative, this memoir has something for anyone who's ever enjoyed the Great Lakes. . . . Would I change the cover? Yes. But do I think McKSchmidt has created a book that could make a difference? That can touch the heart of others? I have no doubt. Spring 2019, Michigan Blue Julie Bonner Williams. "Clean Beaches, Clean Water" Mary McKSchmidt said she believes in love at first sight. At 7 years old, she saw Lake Michigan for the first time, something she calls a turning point in her life. Today, at 66, the Laketown Township resident writes and speaks in defense of the Great Lakes, striving to diminish the pollution that threatens them. Spring 2019, Boat US Mark Corke. "Uncharted Waters: Romance, Adventure, and Advocacy on the Great Lakes" There's adventure aplenty between the covers of this book, and the author's descriptive writing makes the reader believe that you're right alongside as she battles frozen streams on a winter kayaking trip or stares down a surly gun-toting immigration official at a South African airport. But this book is much more than just another travel narrative. June 2019, The Port Hole John Garside. "Summer Reads" I read this book in just two evening sessions, and then re-read it the following week. It was an amazing personal story of a young woman reaching out into the world, exploring not only her own country but the world as well. A world far removed from her own comfort zone and in the pages came a very clear message, life in the Union of South Africa is not the same as in America. So begins the author’s experience of adult life and the challenges that a very foreign country presents. With each page I could feel her anxiety and as she shares her concerns and thoughts you see how she grows both in wisdom and knowledge. Eventually returning to America she sets out into the traditional industrial corporate world and there finds not only a good job but a love of the water too, Lake Michigan. It is this love of the water and the attraction of sailing on it that really opens the author’s eyes and heart and she soon finds herself quite taken by the beauty of the lake and the surrounding environment. However, all is not well, as with her heightened awareness Mary sees that the water is not as clean as it could be and the surrounding lands need to be protected from industrial fallout as well. So in fascinating detail you get to walk with her as she sees things from a different view, and begins to reach out to those around her to make Lake Michigan, her lake, a better place on which to not only sail, but to live by too. September 8, 2019, Holland Sentinel Michelle Gibb, "Living Sustainably: Think 'global' about our threaded water resource" Panel featuring:
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2018August 10, 2018. Corp!
Karen Dybis. "Former Businesswoman Retools and Returns to her First Loves: Water and Writing" . . . the kind of writer who should pen a memoir--she has been a business executive, a world traveler and a word lover her whole life . . . September 26. 2018 Soundings Gary Reich. "Wonder Woman" October 5, 2018. For Love of Water "New Book: A Great Lakes Journey Toward Advocacy" October 6, 2018. The Lansing State Journal Ray Walsh. "MSU Grad Writes of Great Lakes Advocacy" . . . a smoothly flowing, thought-provoking book that's more than just a simple memoir. October 5, 2018. Windcheck: Sailng the Northeast Book Review: "Uncharted Waters" November 1, 2018. Boating Times Long Island Lita Smith-Mines. "A Passionate Life" . . . a writer with unbridled affection for her husband, the Great Lakes, and for the environment . . . yet there is so much more in its pages to make this a compelling read. November 14, 2018. Picture This Post Ann Boland. "Uncharted Waters Review--Finding New Passion in Retirement." . . . as we age, we feel it is only our surface that wrinkles. Inside, we will always be people in our prime, no older than our mid-forties. Uncharted Waters is an excellent primer for those seeking a proactive way to use their skis for a fruitful retirement. December 2018. Sail Magazine Lydia Mullen. "Book Review. Uncharted Waters: Romance, Adventure, and Advocacy on the Great Lakes." p. 11 Told as a series of rich vignettes spanning her adult life, McKSchmidt's story is an inspiring reminder that one person with a goal and the tenacity to follow through can make a difference. December 2018, Grand Rapids Magazine Sam Easter. "Reading Room: Navigating Uncharted Waters" "My hope is that when people read this book, they will choose to get engaged," McKSchmidt said. "That they will , maybe for the first time, write an email to their congressman or to the governor or to their representative, and just ask, "What have you done for the health of the Great Lakes recently." . . . But she recalls throughout the book a piece of advice from a friend: "You are responsible le for your efforts on this Earth, not necessarily the results." It's this remark that seems to echo through the book. December 2018, Southern Boating "Six Gifts That Won't Break the Bank" With more than just a love of boating, Mary McKSchmidt describes her adventures with water as the catalyst for her life’s turning points in Uncharted Water: Romance, Adventure, and Advocacy on the Great Lakes. From survival in South Africa to a Fortune 500 company to writer, McKSchmidt shares how she balanced life through boating. |
Radio and Television
April 24, 2023, The Four on 9 and 10 News, WWTV-TV. Interviewed by Eric Brazeal
September 20, 2018, The Tom Sumer Program on WFNT-AM News Talk Radio in Flint, MI
September 21, 2018, The Pledge Radio on 96.5 FM/1260 AM. View the interview on the Pledge Radio Facebook page.
October 15, 2018. The Four on 9 and 10 News, WWTV-TV. Interviewed by Michelle Dunaway.
Appeared on the Shelley Irwin Show on WGVU-FM on October 19, 2018.
September 20, 2018, The Tom Sumer Program on WFNT-AM News Talk Radio in Flint, MI
September 21, 2018, The Pledge Radio on 96.5 FM/1260 AM. View the interview on the Pledge Radio Facebook page.
October 15, 2018. The Four on 9 and 10 News, WWTV-TV. Interviewed by Michelle Dunaway.
Appeared on the Shelley Irwin Show on WGVU-FM on October 19, 2018.
* Publicists Jane Reilly and Joelle Speranza of Smith Publicity
By Mary McKSchmidt
3/30/2024
Holland Sentinel
Thankful for our 'Sunset Corner'
www.hollandsentinel.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/03/31/letters-to-the-editor-thankful-for-our-sunset-corner/73132054007/
1/14/2024
Holland Sentinel
Finding Shade for Cottonwood Corner
4/13/2022
Holland Sentinel
The Miracle of Small Things
4/8/2021
Holland Sentinel
The 'girl' on Windmill Island
9/27/2020
Holland Sentinel
"Courage to Do the Right Thing"
6/10/2020
Holland Sentinel
"We Cannot Forget the Dam Disaster"
3/27/2020
Holland Sentinel
"How Do Hands Get Washed?"
2/11/2020
Holland Sentinel
"This Sounds Like Flint"
3/29/2019
Holland Sentinel
"Don't Let Balloons Fly Without Thinking it Through"
3/11/19
Hillsdale Daily News
"I Want to Know I Did What I Could"
1/10/19
Holland Sentinel
"Are We Up to the Good Stuff of the 1890s"
12/12/2018
Holland Sentinel
"What happened to Pure Michigan?"
8/11/2018
Holland Sentinel
"Regulations key to Great Lakes health"
6/21/18
Lansing State Journal
"East Lansing Schools Provided Me A Foundation to Succeed"
5/2/18
Holland Sentinel
"Mentors Matter"
6/2016
Sail Magazine
"Searching for Common Ground"
Spring Issue
Michigan Blue
Five prose poems and accompanying photographs: "Listening to Shy Voices," "Life Choices," "Beauty in Imperfection," " Gratitude," and "Why it Pays to Walk Slowly"
8/2010
Sail Magazine
"Autumn Crossing"
Holland Sentinel
Thankful for our 'Sunset Corner'
www.hollandsentinel.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/03/31/letters-to-the-editor-thankful-for-our-sunset-corner/73132054007/
1/14/2024
Holland Sentinel
Finding Shade for Cottonwood Corner
4/13/2022
Holland Sentinel
The Miracle of Small Things
4/8/2021
Holland Sentinel
The 'girl' on Windmill Island
9/27/2020
Holland Sentinel
"Courage to Do the Right Thing"
6/10/2020
Holland Sentinel
"We Cannot Forget the Dam Disaster"
3/27/2020
Holland Sentinel
"How Do Hands Get Washed?"
2/11/2020
Holland Sentinel
"This Sounds Like Flint"
3/29/2019
Holland Sentinel
"Don't Let Balloons Fly Without Thinking it Through"
3/11/19
Hillsdale Daily News
"I Want to Know I Did What I Could"
1/10/19
Holland Sentinel
"Are We Up to the Good Stuff of the 1890s"
12/12/2018
Holland Sentinel
"What happened to Pure Michigan?"
8/11/2018
Holland Sentinel
"Regulations key to Great Lakes health"
6/21/18
Lansing State Journal
"East Lansing Schools Provided Me A Foundation to Succeed"
5/2/18
Holland Sentinel
"Mentors Matter"
6/2016
Sail Magazine
"Searching for Common Ground"
Spring Issue
Michigan Blue
Five prose poems and accompanying photographs: "Listening to Shy Voices," "Life Choices," "Beauty in Imperfection," " Gratitude," and "Why it Pays to Walk Slowly"
8/2010
Sail Magazine
"Autumn Crossing"