Valerie van Heest | |
|---|---|
| Born | Valerie Olson Wilmette, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author, explorer, museum exhibit designer |
| Genre | Narrative nonfiction |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Website | |
| valerievanheest | |
Valerie Olson van Heest is an American author, explorer, and museum exhibit designer. She is the co-founder of theMichigan Shipwreck Research Association.
Van Heest was born inWilmette,Illinois. She graduated from New Trier East High School. Her father, Robert V. Olson, was the son a of Swedish immigrant, who volunteered at 17 to join the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of WW II. Robert was aboatswain's mate andUnderwater Demolition Team diver in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he encouraged his longtime friend and neighborSam Davison to start the Davison Corporation to manufacturescuba gear.[1] At age 16, Valerie began working at theDacor factory making scuba gear, and became a certified scuba diver through the company's training program.
She attendedHarrington College of Design in Chicago andLoyola University and graduated with a B.A. inInterior Design. She worked at several architectural firms as a designer and project manager in Chicago.
In Chicago, van Heest joined theChicago Maritime Museum dive group, and co-founded an offshoot organization, theUnderwater Archaeological Society of Chicago.[2] She served as its president for eight years. During that time, she led investigations of over a dozen shipwrecks, and testified in theLady Elgin case,[3] regarding her observations conducting an investigation of three sites of wreckage strewn on the lake bottom.
She co-authored reports on the shipwrecksLady Elgin,Goshawk, andWells Burt,[4] and created archaeological site drawings on over a dozen shipwrecks.
After relocating to Holland, Michigan, van Heest joined the committee to establish theSouthwest Michigan Underwater Preserve. In 2000, the state of Michigan approved this as the tenth underwater preserve.[5]
Soon thereafter, van Heest, her husband Jack, Craig Rich, Geoffrey Reynolds, and others founded the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, to research, explore, document, and interpret shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. She is currently its co-director.[6]
In 2006, van Heest was inducted into theWomen Divers Hall of Fame[7] for her years of preserving and interpreting Great Lakes shipwrecks.
In 2007, the Historical Society of Michigan gave her the State History Award for distinguished volunteer service in promoting Michigan's submerged maritime heritage.
After their collaboration on the bookBuckets and Belts in 2009,[8] co-authors William Lafferty and van Heest formed the museum exhibit design firm Lafferty van Heest and Associates.[9][10]
At its annual event in Bowling Green, Ohio, International Legends of Diving added Van Heest to its honor roll in 2010.[11]
In 2017, van Heest received the Joyce S. Hayward Award for Historic Interpretation from the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History.[12]
Van Heest has written articles for magazines and historical journals. includingMichigan History,Wreck Diving Magazine,The Great Laker, andInland Seas.[13]
Van Heest began writing her first book in 2005. The recent MSRA discovery of theS.S. Michigan inspired her to share this story with her daughters by writing a young reader's book, for which she also created the artwork.[14]
After receiving an award from the Historical Society of Michigan for her first book,Icebound! The Adventures of Young George Sheldon and the SS Michigan, she began writing non-fiction books about Great Lakes shipwrecks and other historical topics.
Van Heest worked with NUMA's[clarification needed] Clive Cussler during the search forNWA Flight 2501. In 2006, he encouraged her to write a book about that aircraft tragedy.Fatal Crossing[15] was published in 2013. Cussler's blurb appears on the cover.[16]
Van Heest is a co-founder of theMichigan Shipwreck Research Associates, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. Its mission is to preserve and interpret Michigan's submerged maritime history. The organization conducts side-scan sonar expeditions in search of shipwrecks and aircraft wrecks in Lake Michigan. Board members research and document submerged cultural resources, and create educational resources including its website and newsletter, documentary films, informative articles, books, and museum exhibits. Its board of directors makes presentations to various organizations. Since 1998, MSRA hosts an annual public symposium to showcase its projects and those of other Great Lakes explorers.
Van Heest has been a leading member in the annual search expeditions in lower Lake Michigan, which have discovered shipwrecks including theH.C. Akeley,SS Michigan,Hennepin,John V. Moran,Milwaukee,Hattie Wells, andWilliam Tell.
Van Heest has been married to Jack van Heest since 1995. The couple has two daughters, both certified scuba divers. They live in Holland, Michigan.[17]
| Title | Publication date | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Icebound! The Adventures of Young George Sheldon and the SS Michigan | 2008 | 2009 Michigan State History Award[18] |
| Buckets and Belts: Evolution of the Great Lakes Self-Unloader* | 2009 | 2009 Michigan State History Award[19] |
| Lost on the Lady Elgin[20] | 2010 | 1st place INDIE New Generation Award[21] |
| Unsolved Mysteries: The Shipwreck Thomas Hume | 2011 | |
| Lost & Found: Legendary Lake Michigan Shipwrecks | 2012 | |
| Fatal Crossing: The Mysterious Disappearance of NWA Flight 2501and the Quest for Answers (2013) | 2013 | 2014 IPPY Award[22] |
| Big Red Lighthouse: The Illustrated History of Holland Michigan's Famous Lighthouse | 2024 |
(*) indicates book co-authored with William Lafferty.
On behalf of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, van Heest wrote or co-wrote and contributed to the production of the following shipwreck documentaries, which she also presented at MSRA's annual "Mysteries & Histories Beneath the Inland Seas" event in Holland, Michigan.[23]
| Title | Publication date |
|---|---|
| The Verano: A Porthole to the Past | 1999 |
| A Glimpse Into the Past: The Discovery of the H.C. Akeley | 2002 |
| The Disappearance of Flight 2501 | 2004 |
| Icebound Found: The Ordeal of the S.S. Michigan | 2005 |
| Planes, Trains, and Ships | 2007 |
| She Died a Hard Death: The Sinking of the Hennepin | 2007 |
| Freshwater Monsoon | 2008 |
| Raising theAlvin Clark: Forty Years of Perspective | 2009 |
| A Tale of Two Schooners | 2010 |
| Lost on the Lady Elgin | 2011 |
| Unsolved Mysteries: The Shipwreck Thomas Hume | 2012 |
These programs were also presented at various annual underwater film festivals all around the Great Lakes, including:
