This is a story of cross-lake commerce and economics... of courageous people and mighty ships. It is a story of vision and commitment and adapting to changing times. The Ludington Carferry did sail again, thanks to the vision and commitment of its new owner, Charles Conrad. Today, the Lake Michigan Carferry Service is a thriving, growing enterprise that has succeeded in spite of overwhelming odds.

When these faces rise or those voices mutter, he has until now told himself the old lie, that once there was a frightened boy who caught his mother's neurotic terror like a cold and made up a story, a grand fantasy with good old Mom-saving Jack Sawyer at its center. None of it was real, and it was forgotten by the time he was sixteen. By then he was calm. Just as he's calm now, running across his north field like a lunatic, leaving that dark track and those clouds of startled moths behind him, but doing it calmly.

While The Talisman was a straightforward myth in 1980s packaging, Black House is richer and more complex, a fantasy wrapped in a horror story inside a mystery, sporting a clever tangle of references to Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, jazz, baseball, and King's own Dark Tower saga. Talisman fans will find the sure-footed Jack has worn well--as has the King/Straub writing style, which is much improved with the passage of two decades. --Barrie Trinkle' border='0'> -
In the seemingly paradisal Wisconsin town of French Landing, small distortions disturb the beauty: a talking crow, an old man obeying strange internal marching orders, a house that is both there and not quite there. And roaming the town is a terrible fiend nicknamed the Fisherman, who is abducting and murdering small children and eating their flesh. The sheriff desperately wants the help of a retired Los Angeles cop, who once collared another serial killer in a neighboring town.

Of course, this is no ordinary policeman, but Jack Sawyer, hero of Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 fantasy The Talisman. At the end of that book, the 13-year-old Jack had completed a grueling journey through an alternate realm called the Territories, found a mysterious talisman, killed a terrible enemy, and saved the life of his mother and her counterpart in the Territories. Now in his 30s, Jack remembers nothing of the Talisman, but he also hasn't entirely forgotten:

When these faces rise or those voices mutter, he has until now told himself the old lie, that once there was a frightened boy who caught his mother's neurotic terror like a cold and made up a story, a grand fantasy with good old Mom-saving Jack Sawyer at its center. None of it was real, and it was forgotten by the time he was sixteen. By then he was calm. Just as he's calm now, running across his north field like a lunatic, leaving that dark track and those clouds of startled moths behind him, but doing it calmly.

While The Talisman was a straightforward myth in 1980s packaging, Black House is richer and more complex, a fantasy wrapped in a horror story inside a mystery, sporting a clever tangle of references to Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, jazz, baseball, and King's own Dark Tower saga. Talisman fans will find the sure-footed Jack has worn well--as has the King/Straub writing style, which is much improved with the passage of two decades. --Barrie Trinkle

Die-hard Badgers fan? Once you wear these NCAA socks, you'll never take them off!

• Aerial Photos: Access and download 1-meter resolution Digital Orthophoto Quads via the Internet for a full year and use them the same way you use topo maps. The photos can be printed out on any standard desktop printer, and you can add notes, project them in 3-D, and view them alongside your topo maps. Photos are available for most areas of the continental U.S., and once you've downloaded them, they're yours to keep.
• GeoTips and Dynamic Street Addresses: Mouse-over maps or photos to determine addresses, coordinates, elevation, grade, and more. With the software's powerful "auto text" feature, you can instantly annotate a map or photo with that information. You can also search for maps and locations by typing in a street address.
• 3-D Fly-around Video Clip Recordings: Perhaps the coolest new feature of all! Terrain Navigator Pro allows you to display a map or aerial photo in 3-D, then record it as a short video clip. With this feature, you can email the video clip to a client or colleague, or even paste it into a PowerPoint presentation.
• Advanced Graphics and CAD/GIS Features: To assist with your presentations, you can export maps, photos and charts to Photoshop and other graphics programs. You can also use the topo maps and aerial photos on ArcView, ArcGIS, Intergraph, AutoCAD, MapInfo, MicroStation, ERDAS, and other CAD/GIS applications.

What's in the Box
Set of CD-ROMs with a total of 300 to 4,000 topographical maps covering the entire state. (Orthophoto Quads are accessible via Internet download.)' border='0'> - $269.99 new from $269.99
Maptech Terrain Navigator Pro takes Terrain Navigator software to a whole new level with expanded features designed for professionals such as project managers, architects, land-use officials, as well as expert hikers and expedition leaders. Navigator Pro not only offers the full array of features that Terrain Navigator has come to be known for, but it also allows users to download and use high-quality aerial photos, share 3-D fly-around video clip recordings of the terrain, export maps to graphics program, and much, much more.

Just like Maptech's Terrain Navigator, Terrain Navigator Pro includes between 300 and 4000 topographic maps of Wisconsin. And as with Terrain Navigator, if you are planning a hike, you can plot out all your trips out on your PC, then download your routes and notes onto your Pocket PC device. When you return from your trip, all the notes you've taken, along with the routes of your spontaneous day trips, can be uploaded back into your PC, and voila, you've created a detailed log of your trip directly onto the map. Your maps can be printed on any standard desktop printer with or without the USGS borders and legend, latitude/longtitude grids, UTM grids, or compass alignment guides. And with Pocket Navigator software (sold separately), Terrain Navigator Pro can be integrated with mapping and GPS technology on a Pocket PC.

Terrain Navigator Pro is truly designed for the professional in mind. In addition to several enhancements on the standard Terrain Navigator features, Terrain Navigator Pro offers several advanced features, including:

• Aerial Photos: Access and download 1-meter resolution Digital Orthophoto Quads via the Internet for a full year and use them the same way you use topo maps. The photos can be printed out on any standard desktop printer, and you can add notes, project them in 3-D, and view them alongside your topo maps. Photos are available for most areas of the continental U.S., and once you've downloaded them, they're yours to keep.
• GeoTips and Dynamic Street Addresses: Mouse-over maps or photos to determine addresses, coordinates, elevation, grade, and more. With the software's powerful "auto text" feature, you can instantly annotate a map or photo with that information. You can also search for maps and locations by typing in a street address.
• 3-D Fly-around Video Clip Recordings: Perhaps the coolest new feature of all! Terrain Navigator Pro allows you to display a map or aerial photo in 3-D, then record it as a short video clip. With this feature, you can email the video clip to a client or colleague, or even paste it into a PowerPoint presentation.
• Advanced Graphics and CAD/GIS Features: To assist with your presentations, you can export maps, photos and charts to Photoshop and other graphics programs. You can also use the topo maps and aerial photos on ArcView, ArcGIS, Intergraph, AutoCAD, MapInfo, MicroStation, ERDAS, and other CAD/GIS applications.

What's in the Box
Set of CD-ROMs with a total of 300 to 4,000 topographical maps covering the entire state. (Orthophoto Quads are accessible via Internet download.)

• Detailed coverage for over 800 lakes with information including improved shoreline, depth contours, boat ramps, and more
  
• Amazing bottom detail and one-foot contours for many lakes
  
• High definition contours, structure and bottom information created from on-the-water surveys
  
• Detail includes islands, reefs, points, bays, inlets, access points, aquatic vegetation and more
  
• Full road coverage statewide