Political Science emeritus faculty member becomes a novelist

Since retiring from Central Michigan University, Professor Emeritus of Political Science James P. Hill has published three political novels that revolve around a fictional 2024 U.S. Presidential election.

Hill was born and spent his early adulthood in a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Living so close to the Great Lakes, he grew to love northern Michigan and recently realized a dream to write about this beautiful area as a backdrop to his trilogy of political novels.

• In the Arms of Gitche Gumee (2022)
• Saving Gitche Gumee: The Unveiling of a Great Lakes Mystery (2023)
• The Gitche Gumee Diaries: The Secrets of Velvet LeBlanc (2024)
  

The books explore the mysterious dumping of barrels of “munitions” waste by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the late 1950’s and the spiritual and political journey of a young Native American woman from the Upper Peninsula who seeks to uncover the true nature of this dumping.

Lake Superior is called Gitche Gumee from the Ojibwe name for the lake, gichi-gami (pronounced gitchi-gami or kitchi-gami), meaning "great sea or big sea." 

The book covers are designed by Hill’s brother Nicholas, the graphics by Jim’s youngest daughter Alyson, and the photography by his older daughter Patricia. Both of his daughters are CMU graduates.

Hill wore many hats during his tenure at CMU. He was a professor of Political Science, Director of the Honors Program, Business Law and Regulation Department Chair, and played an instrumental role in the creation of the Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government.

Before coming to CMU, he worked in the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and as a Commissioner on the Michigan Natural Resources Commission. He was also a political consultant for several state and federal campaigns.

Hill returned to his native town of Pickford to promote his first novel, with a portion of the proceeds from book reading events being donated to the local Pickford Library. The third and final novel in the trilogy was released on Amazon in November and is being advertised in the Harvard Authors’ Bookshelf in the November edition of Harvard Magazine.

Hill and his wife Kathy currently reside in Geneva, Illinois. To view and order the novels, please visit Hillnovels.net.