Touching Story of an Upper Peninsula Hermit
Andrew Norton
Susan Ager is still traveling across Michigan visiting places that folks tell her to go. Her most recent request came from Hank DeSautel who lives in Adrian. He had not seen his brother in 25 years and at age 88 can not make the trip up to Grand Marais himself. He told Susan -
"Please go to Grand Marais," the old man told me, his voice crackly on the phone, "and see if you can find my brother. He's a hermit, and he lives in the woods 9 miles outside town, in an aluminum trailer, with no electricity and no water.
Hank told her that in order to find his brother all she needed to do was "go into any tavern, and ask for Dapper Dan." Which is exactly what Susan did. She arrived at the Lake Superior Brewing Co. around midnight and asked for Dapper Dan. She doesn't receive directions to his place, just his life story as told from the good folks that reside in Grand Marais.
I will not relay the whole account here. Just go to this page of the Detroit Free Press and read about Susan's adventure. It is simply a really touching story of a guy (Dapper Dan) who retired at the age of 42 and moved to the only place he knew he could afford to retire to at such a young age - Grand Marais. Dapper Dan chose to live the simple life.
Do yourself a favor and check it out. Check Susan's blog over the weekend as she is supposed to have her account of spending a weekend at a lighthouse on the Great Lakes.