THE ULTIMATE ILLINOIS BUCKET LIST BOOK!

The Story of A Man, A Family, a Generation, & a Science Not Well Understood

It’s an honor to have written the biography of David Johnston, who hailed from Oak Lawn, Illinois, and found his way to volcanoes when the science was about to explode with knowledge. David was a young volcanologist when Mount St. Helens ended its 123-year dormant period in 1980. When the volcano blew, he was on a ridge northwest of the mountain’s summit and was killed. This book tells the story of the Illinois boy who heard sonic booms at 14 (daily reminders of the Cold War), and at 15, saw Vietnam in his future. The world has heard of Dr. Johnston the scientist, but few have heard about the 30 years that came first. Unsung heroes walk among us each day. David was one of many heroes in spring 1980. And he was one of 57 who died as a result of the eruption. University of Illinois Press, with its stellar peer review process, was the best publisher for this book, which comes highly recommended by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, plus recommended by the American Library Association’s Choice Reviews. If you've visited Mount St. Helens, you've likely stood at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, named for David. The book is available in paperback, E-book, plus new in 2024, it is an audiobook (narrated by Jeff Renner, who was there in 1980, and wrote the Foreword).

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Audiobook of A Hero on Mount St. Helens

My first book, The Female Assumption: A Mother's Story, Freeing Women from the View that Motherhood is a Mandate--which won a 2014 Global Media Award from the Population Institute--shines a light on the importance of our words and assumptions. Not all women want or are able to achieve motherhood. Yet there are many paths to a fulfilled female experience, and many aspects of deep, meaningful love. This book is one part autobiographical; one part biographical in terms of women's experiences (both those with and without children); and one part deep research into women's history. Its audience is every female, and every person who speaks with females about their lives.

Now for Sale through Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Indie Bookstores in Chicago area (See my blog for list)

The Female Assumption: A Mother's Story: Freeing Women from the View that Motherhood is a Mandate

By Melanie Holmes

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Released in 2020: Manteno/Images of America

Released Feb. 10, 2020, this book is meant to teach. It tells of the Potawatomi who dwelled in the area before fur traders and settlers. In the words of Professor Emeritus of Sociology & Community Studies (Governors State University) Larry McClellan, this book is “uniquely Manteno’s story, but also representative of the broad sweep of similar communities.” Some of Manteno’s stories have never been told; others forgotten. A woman who campaigned for married women’s rights began her fight here. In 1930, the first patients arrived at the newly built state hospital on the town’s eastern fringe. A parochial boarding school brought French nuns to the town, as well as boarders from Chicago and elsewhere — boarders who were of a broad array of ethnicities. A community hospital was built by Korean immigrants, named for a woman whose missionary work in Korea was nothing short of heroic. Arcadia Publishing offers 2 lengths for their books: 128-pages and 160-pages. Holmes needed 160 pages to do this town justice. To purchase, you can click the image of the book above and you’ll be brought to Arcadia’s catalog. It is also available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. — In the words of Professor Emeritus of Sociology & Community Studies (Governors State University) Larry McClellan, this book is “uniquely Manteno’s story, but also representative of the broad sweep of similar communities.” Some of Manteno’s stories have never been told; others forgotten. A woman who campaigned for married women’s rights began her fight here. In 1930, the first patients arrived at the newly built state hospital on the town’s eastern fringe. A parochial boarding school brought French nuns to the town, as well as boarders from Chicago and elsewhere — boarders who were of a broad array of ethnicities. A community hospital was built by Korean immigrants, named for a woman whose missionary work in Korea was nothing short of heroic.
Arcadia Publishing offers 2 lengths for their books: 128-pages and 160-pages. Holmes needed 160 pages to do this town justice. To purchase, you can click the image of the book above and you’ll be brought to Arcadia’s catalog. It is also available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

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Released in 2021: The Secret Life of Postcards

Released in a limited manner, this book is available only from the Kankakee County Museum gift shop or from the author (send an email request).
Postcards were once a popular and important form of communication, much like the cell phone text of the 21st century, but with beauty, art, and symbolism. Upon researching her maternal grandmother’s large vintage postcard collection (1906 - 1930s), Holmes connected the dots on the history of not just a family but of a generation/culture.