News Releases

“Michigan’s Ghostly Beacons” Scheduled Throughout the Fall Season at Libraries Statewide

 

For nearly 20 years, Dianna Stampfler has been speaking about Michigan’s lighthouses, their keepers and their ghosts. This fall, she will present a series of free programs called “Michigan’s Ghostly Beacons” at libraries around the state including Elk Rapids (Oct. 4), Allegan (Oct. 9), DeWitt (Oct. 17), Bloomingdale (Oct. 18), Mackinaw City (Oct. 24) and Caro (Oct. 30). Event times and addresses can be found online in the Promote Michigan Speaker’s Bureau.

“I have been researching, writing and presenting programs about Michigan’s lighthouses and their keepers for more than 20 years,” says Stampfler, who launched her company Promote Michigan in 2004 after years with the West Michigan Tourist Association. “Michigan is home to more lighthouses than any other state and some 30 of those are rumored to be haunted by the spirits of former keepers, mariners and others with ties to these historic beacons.”

Stampfler has just submitted a manuscript to The History Press for a book entitled “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses” due out in the spring of 2019.  Inside the pages of “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses,” long-time writer and promoter of all things Michigan, Stampfler shares stories of those who dedicated their lives—and afterlives—to protecting the Great Lakes shoreline.

“Both my program and book shed light on these ghostly lights in a fun, educational and historic way,” Stampfler says. “The book features 13 lights spread out geographically around Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Huron, while the program features more than 30 beacons around the state.”

Stampfler has been professionally writing and broadcasting since high school. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English with emphasis in Community Journalism and Communications with emphasis in radio broadcasting from Western Michigan University. She is a member of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, Great Lakes Maritime Museum, Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, Historical Society of Michigan, Michigan Maritime Museum, National Museum of the Great Lakes and West Michigan Tourist Association. Stampfler was born and raised in Plainwell but currently lives in Walloon Lake, where she welcomes visits from her two adult children, her family and friends.